


Baby, Please Come Home.

by BlakesBodyGuard



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: 12 Days of Christmas, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst with a Happy Ending, But I Love Them, But won't talk, Christmas, Christmas Party, Christmas Smut, F/M, Fluff and Smut, Friends With Benefits, Friends to Lovers, Idiots in Love, M/M, Misunderstandings, Song Writer!Clarke, Teacher!Bellamy, i hate them
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-16
Updated: 2020-01-17
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:40:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 24,977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21823069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlakesBodyGuard/pseuds/BlakesBodyGuard
Summary: Clarke is sitting at JFK, wondering if flying off to Aspen after catching her friend/FWB kissing someone else at his Birthday Party while he was drunk is the best way to handle this situation. The song she had wrote for a client that was completely inspired by him was burning a hole in her phone, and she didn't know if she would ever let him hear it. She had every intention of confessing that she fell in love along the way of their arrangement, but she honestly thought he felt the same way, until she got to the bar that night.They call for her boarding. Will she get on the plane?
Relationships: Abby Griffin/Marcus Kane, Bellamy Blake/Clarke Griffin, Emori/John Murphy (The 100), Eric Jackson/Nathan Miller, Monty Green/Harper McIntyre, Octavia Blake/Gabriel Santiago | Xavier, Wells Jaha/Raven Reyes
Comments: 16
Kudos: 194





	1. If we can make it to December

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted a Christmas Fluff with Angst and Happy Ending, so here it is. Smut starts in the first chapter, so be warned if that's not your thing.
> 
> See you on the 'Other Side' :)

_December 23_ _rd,_ _2019_

Clarke is wondering how she got here. Standing on the small stage of their favorite local bar, pouring her heart out into a Christmas song she just wrote no less than 10 days ago, to a boy who is nowhere to be found, all while her closest friends look on nervous for her. 

It all started 3 days ago, or more accurately 6 months ago... 

_June, 2019_

It was nearing the end of the first month of Summer when it happened for the first time. Clarke had just gotten out of a messy relationship, her best friend Octavia had just gotten engaged to the love of her life Gabriel and was moving out of their shared apartment, and all of her other friends were in committed relationships. 

Monty and Harper were newly married, Murphy and Emori were in some “never getting married, but never being with anyone else.” stage, and she just helped Wells pick out a beautiful Engagement ring for Raven. 

To say she wasn’t really in the best headspace when she arrived to the bar for Octavia and Gabriel’s engagement celebration would be a massive understatement. She has 2 shots of Vodka and a couple of cocktails at the apartment before her and Raven headed to the bar for the evening. 

“You aren’t pulling any punches tonight. I haven’t seen you pregame this hard in, well, Since the end of Finals in College 2 years ago. Rough week?” Raven asked. 

“Not really. Work is actually going well. I might even get to be the lead on a big project coming up for the holidays. It’s just, I'm officially the last single person in our group, and I’m just self-wallowing. I’ll be fine once we get there, I'm sure.” Clarke assured her friend. 

Raven took a long sideways look at her friend, “You just need to get laid. You and Cillian broke up 2 months ago, and it’s not like you were together for that long.” she shrugged. 

“I get that, but he wanted to end things so he could hook up with one of our clients. Like, I get that we work in the entertainment industry, but that doesn’t mean you need to chase every hot piece of ass that comes by the studio.” Clarke exhausted. 

Clarke worked for a production company in New York that wrote songs for anything from commercials to TV spots, movie soundtracks and even some artists that were looking for new material for their upcoming albums. 

She loved her job, her and Wells were two of the main talents. Her for writing and Wells for producing. It was run by her Step Father, Marcus. He had a lot of connections to Manhattan’s elite of who’s who, and it seemed like the most logical choice for work after she graduated from NYU with her degree in Art. While she worked on getting her foot in the world of Art, and showcasing a few pieces in galleries in the city, she took the job with Marcus because it seemed to come easy to her, it was fun and paid pretty well. 

“Look, it’s O’s night, but I’m sure we can get a few more drinks in you and find you a nice Boy or Girl to go home with. After a break-up, sometimes you just have to get it out of your system. Trust me.” Raven laughed. 

“You have been with Wells for 3 years now, when was the last time you had to deal with a break-up? Who knows, maybe things have changed since you last had one.” Clarke joked. 

“I doubt it. We’re here! Now remember, Octavia, Drinks, then fun!” Raven winked as they stepped out of the cab and onto the sidewalk to head into Mirage. 

Once they walked inside the bar, they spotted their group of friends in their usual large booth near the back. All the familiar faces were there, as well as a few new faces. 

“LADIES!!!” Octavia shouted at them, clearly well on her way to tipsy. “I’M GETTING MARRIED!!!” 

Raven and Clarke cheered with her as the went to envelope her in a hug! “Cheers to you!” they yelled. 

“Okay, let’s go get another drink, then I can introduce you to more of our ever-expanding dysfunctional family!” Octavia declared. 

As the flagged down the bartender and placed their order, Clarke took a moment to look back over to the booth, “So, who are the newbies?” 

“Nathan Miller and his boyfriend Jackson. Oh, and my Brother Bellamy is here!” Octavia said with excitement. “Miller is basically a second older brother to me, since him and Bell were best friends through high school and roommates all through college. Bellamy actually just moved here to take a teaching position at NYU.” she went on to explain. 

“Interesting.” Raven says with a mischievous smirk. “I call for celebratory shots!” 

“Hell yeah, that’s the spirit!” Octavia agreed. 

They both turned to look at Clarke, who was still looking over at the booth, eyes trained on the one with dark curls, golden skin and who just so happened to be staring back at her. 

“Bottoms up, ladies.” Clarke turned back to them with a smile on her face as she accepts her 3rd shot of the night. 

They made their way back to the booth, and introductions were made. “Men, these are my best girls, Raven Reyes and Clarke Griffin. Ladies, this is Miller, Jackson and Bellamy.” Octavia listed off, as she joined her Fiancé in the booth. 

“Clarke Griffin? Any chance you’re related to Dr Abby Griffin?” Jackson asked. 

“Yeah, that’s actually my Mom. Small world.” Clarke said, feeling eyes on her as she slid in next to Octavia. 

“Well she’s an amazing boss, you’re very lucky to have an amazing surgeon like her for a mom. She is the main reason I chose New York for my residency.” Jackson explained. 

“Well, that’s awesome. I wish you all the best of luck with that. So, Bellamy you’re Octavia’s brother?” She’s not sure what came over her. Maybe it was not wanting to spend the evening talking about her mom, which in turn reminded her that there will always be tension for the career path she didn’t follow, or maybe it was all of the alcohol she has already consumed for the evening. 

“Uh, yeah.” he answered a little confused and amused. “Moved here just in time for the engagement too.” and as if on cue, everyone cheered their glasses to the happy couple. 

Time passed as some of their other friends slowly started to arrive. It wasn’t long before Raven was pulling Wells onto the dance floor for working late, followed by the newly engaged couple. Miller and Jackson offered to get the next round, and before she knew it, it was just her and Bellamy left sitting at the table, a half empty beer in his hand, as she stirred the remaining ice in her cocktail glass with her straw. 

“So, Clarke, what is it that you do?” he asked. 

“I write music for various entertainment outlets. TV, Movies, whatever our clients need.” she shrugs. 

“That’s pretty cool, anything I may have heard?” he inquired. 

“A few local commercials, nothing too big on my own yet. But I was told we have some big things coming up for the holidays, so hopefully something memorable soon.” she admitted shyly. 

“Something memorable huh? Can’t wait to hear whatever it is.” he responded with an easy smile. 

“So, you just moved here, right?” Bellamy nodded as he finished off his beer, “So, what neighborhood did you move to?” she inquired. 

“It’s about 3 blocks form here. You interested in calling it a night?” he said with a devilish smirk. She had been waiting for him to make a move after the way he had been staring at her all night. 

Clarke downed the rest of her drink, then made a move to get out of the booth, “Let me just tell O bye and let Raven know I'm headed out. I’ll meet you by the door in 2 minutes.” 

Clarke approached Raven and Wells first, letting them know she was headed out, “No luck?” Raven asked. 

“Ah, it’s not a big deal Rae. I started drinking early, so I’m just ready to turn in a little early.” Clarke said, feigning a yawn. 

Then she headed over to the happy couple and gave Octavia a big hug! “I’m so happy for you O, but I think I'm going to call it a night.” 

“Make sure you text me when you make it home, and I will see you for brunch on Sunday.” Octavia said as she let go of her best friend. 

Clarke met Bellamy just outside of the bar, and when she stepped outside into the warm summer air, he turned around and offered her a smile, “Ready?” he asked, as he offered her his arm. 

“Such a gentleman.” she joked as they made their way into the New York Night, just the few blocks to Bellamy’s apartment. 

They leaned on each other as Bellamy fumbled with his keys, trying to open the door as they giggled in their drunken state. 

As soon as the door was open, Clarke took charge and grabbed the back of his neck to meet her lips with his in a searing kiss. Bellamy paused for the briefest of moments, before meeting her with equal favor. He tasted like strawberries on a summer evening, and she could feel the high of the first time of everything. It took no time at all before Bellamy was leading her backwards into what she could only assume was his bedroom. 

As soon as the back of her legs hit his bed, she pulled him down on top of her. She couldn’t seem to get enough of him. She felt like she needed him closer, needed more of him, so she started fumbling to get his shirt off. 

When they broke apart so he could finish removing it, he looked down at her with a lazy smile, “Last chance to back out.” 

Clarke looked up at him with a challenge in her eye as she removed her shirt, “Is this enough consent for you?” 

His eyes went wide, “Hell yeah.” and then he was back on top of her, kissing every exposed part of her skin he could find. 

Clarke scooted back onto the bed to the headboard slowly, pulling him with her. Bellamy had one hand on her waist, while the other found its way into her pants. 

Clarke gasped as he started to rub closer to her center. She could feel herself building higher and higher, then he was pushing 2 large fingers into her at once and she keened. She hadn’t felt this good in months, maybe even before her last boyfriend, what was his name again? She didn’t even care what her own name was anymore. The only name she cared about was spilling from her lips like a prayer, “God, Bellamy.”. 

“I’ll answer to either, Babe.” he said with a smile she could feel against her neck. 

“God I'm so close,” she told him, as she moved his hand from her waist up to her breast to give it a squeeze. 

“You’re amazing. Looking at you like this is driving me crazy. I need you come now, so I can really make you feel good.” he told her and he picked up the pace and started sucking on the pulse point behind her ear. 

That’s what sent her over the edge. Clarke called out in pleasure as Bellamy worked her down from her high. 

Then, she started to unbuckle his belt, and slide down his zipper, “Top drawer on the left” he could barely get out between kisses. 

Clarke reached over to the drawer and pulled out a condom, “Prepared. I like that.” she helped him pull off the rest of his clothes and rid herself of hers, as she opened and rolled on the condom, giving a few experimental strokes to see how he reacts. 

“Continue that and this will be over much too fast for either of our liking.” he teasingly warned her, as he pushed her hand away gently. 

“Well we can’t have that now can we. Plus, you look like you’re good at Sex, so I would hate for this to be over before it begins.” 

“How do I look like I'm good at sex? What does that even mean?” he laughed into her shoulder. 

She pulled back and looked him in the eye, “You’ve seen yourself, right?” she laughed. 

“Yes, I own a mirror, but I have never heard that term, so I'll take that as a compliment.” he smirked as he leaned back down to capture her lips. 

He lined himself up and slowly pushed into her, enjoying the noises coming from her mouth as he stretched her. Clarke had a small coherent thought to ask if he had a roommate or something she should know about, but as he bottomed out, she couldn’t help her volume even if there was someone else there. 

They started to move into an easy rhythm and she took notes of a few things. Bellamy loves dirty talk, and he is definitely a boobs over ass man. He couldn’t stop praising and playing with her breasts. Once she put his hand there, he would never leave them. 

“You feel Amazing, Babe. Tight and Perfect. I’ve never felt something this amazing.” he breathed out against her lips. 

“No kidding. God, I don’t think I've ever had anything this good.” she told him as her eyes started to flutter back, and she just got lost in his scent, his touch, and just him, Bellamy. 

“I’m going to ruin you for men, if you’ll let me.” he told her. 

“Yes, YES, whatever you want.” she shouted, no longer in control of her own thoughts. 

Bellamy grabbed the back of her neck and flipped her up on top to change the angle. As he tilted his hips up at an angle, Clarke could swear she blacked out. She had never had such a body connection like this before, and is a bit disappointed that it took this long to find this. 

Clarke came with Bellamy’s name on her lips, and he gave 3 more thrusts until he was tipping over the edge with her. 

“My God. I don’t know what that was, but we are definitely doing that again.” she said between catching her breath. 

“So, this isn’t a one and done?” he asked with a smile on his face as they both laid on their backs, continuing to catch their breath. 

“What?” Clarke asked surprised. 

“I may have overheard Raven trying to get you to hook up with someone tonight. I mean, don’t get me wrong because I couldn’t take my eyes off of you from the moment you walked into the bar tonight, but I also wanted to be the one that took you home tonight too. And I would be happy if this was more than a one-time thing.” Bellamy admitted. 

“Well, I appreciate the honestly.” she laughed. “Would it be weird? I mean, we barely know each other, and you’re my best friends brother, and our friend groups seem to be merging.” Clarke questioned. 

“Well, we wouldn’t have to tell anyone. I mean, we’re adults, and it’s not like it’s anyone’s business but ours.” he stated. 

“Good point. We should probably exchange numbers at least.” Clarke laughed. 

“Later. Now, we sleep.” Bellamy said as he pulled the blanket over them and pulled her into his chest. 

Clarke snuggled into his chest, and felt safe, relaxed and happy. This could be the start of something amazing. 

_Present Day:_

That’s how it all started. Shots, meeting Bellamy for the first time and going home with him that night. What wasn’t supposed to happen was for her to fall in love with him and have her heart broken, and right before the holidays too. Merry Fucking Christmas. 


	2. Lately I can never tell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's always fun when your friends start to find out your little secret, isn't it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the positive response so far! So excited to continue this story! Don't worry, more Christmas elements are coming, but the backstory is what makes the build up that much better right?
> 
> Anyways, see you on the 'Other Side' :)

_June, July, August, 2019._

Since Bellamy had just moved to the city and School didn’t start for a few months, he and Clarke made good use of their free time. His place, her place, the back room of Mirage and even Late nights at the studio when she would be working on a project. The Sex was amazing, fun, adventurous and nothing ever felt complicated with them. 

They never discussed their labels, but Clarke never worried about it. She started to wonder if this was what it felt like to feel detached and have fun without worrying about where she stood with her partner. 

After that first night, she was afraid that the morning after would be awkward, but she woke up to Bellamy making hangover breakfast, and a fresh cup of coffee waiting for her. 

“So, are we actually doing this?” she asked pretty elusive. 

“Breakfast?” Bellamy asked a bit confused for a minute. 

“No. What we talked about last night. Continuing to sleep together, without letting everyone into our business.” she clarified. 

“I mean, I would never want to put you in a position you weren't comfortable in, so I will leave that decision up to you. I like you, I definitely like sleeping with you, and I think we could have a lot of fun.” Bellamy stated his side. 

“I like you too. Last night was fun, and I would love to have some more fun with you.” she walked closer to him and put her hand on his bare chest, and leaned up on her tiptoes to whisper in his ear, “And for the record, there are not many positions that I’m NOT comfortable in.” 

She pulled away slowly as she heard his intake of breath. Next thing she knows, Bellamy is turning around to flick off the stove, and lifting her over his shoulder and carrying her back to his bedroom. 

_________________

It wasn’t until 2 weeks later at the gang’s Game Night at Clarke's place, that Raven started getting suspicious. 

“So, you’ve been MIA lately. What’s been going on?” she asked Clarke, as she cornered her in her own kitchen to grab another drink. 

“What are you talking about Rae? I saw you at brunch late week.” Clarke defended. 

“Clarke, we usually see each other 2-3 times a week MINIMUM! You always have to work late, or are unavailable. And don’t even get me started on you never answering your phone anymore. What’s going on, seriously? You can tell me anything.” Raven said, starting to get concerned. 

“Look, I will tell you, but you can’t make a big deal about it or tell anyone, including Wells.” Clarke warned her. 

“Best Friend Oath.” Raven saluted. 

“I kind of met someone. It’s nothing serious, just sleeping together mostly. And, maybe hanging out other times.” Clarke said biting her lip, knowing what it sounded like. 

“So, you’re dating.” Raven said. 

“No. We were clear on that. Sleeping together, but we also like hanging out too.” 

“Clarke, Sweetie, that is literally what dating is. It hasn’t been that long that you don’t remember.” Raven told her patting her head. 

“Well, we don’t classify it as that.” Clarke told her. 

“So, let me see here. You sleep together, hang out, enjoy each other's company, but are NOT dating?” Raven clarified. 

“Exactly! Well, when you say it all together like that it makes it sound dumb, but neither of us are looking for a relationship right now.” 

“So, are they allowed to hook up with other people? Are you?” Raven asked with an arched eyebrow. 

“Well, honestly we never talked about that, because it hasn’t come up.” Clarke admitted. 

“Sounds like you should probably have that conversation before someone accidentally gets hurt. And by someone, I mean you.” she told Clarke bluntly. 

Raven walked out of the kitchen, and Clarke just felt an uncomfortable feeling settle in her stomach. Wouldn’t talking to Bellamy about exclusivity defeat the purpose of what they had going on? Honestly, she knew she wasn’t really interested in anyone else. She was getting some of the best sex she’d ever had on the regular, and loved hanging out with Bellamy outside of just sleeping together too. But, did he feel the same way? Was he seeing other people? 

Wine wasn’t going to cut it tonight, so Clarke pulled out a bottle of Vodka from the freezer, grabbed a glass and started making a very strong mixed drink. Then she took a few shots straight from the bottle to get started when she heard her front door open, and her friends make their way inside. 

It didn’t take long before Bellamy found her in the kitchen, holding up a case of beer in each hand, “I come bearing gifts.” He said with a proud smile. 

“Hey! Thanks, you can set them in the fridge.” She said with a tight smile. 

Bellamy deposited the bottles into the refrigerator as instructed, then took a quick look around the corner to see if anyone was coming, then he crowed Clarke against the counter, kissing her hot and heavy, “God, I missed you today. Can we kick everyone out and have our own game night instead?” he asked in between kissing her lips and then moving to her neck. 

Clarke quickly melted into him and the feel of his body on her, that she forgot that all of their friends were just a few feet away. It wasn’t until she heard Octavia shout ‘Charades’ that she snapped out of her daze. 

“Sorry, you know O won’t let anyone out of ‘game night’ until she wins at least one game.” she told him, pulling his head away from her neck. She should be worried that there may already be marks there. 

Bellamy took one look at the glass behind her, and the Vodka bottle and wiggled his eyebrows, “So, it’s going to be that kind of night, huh?” he said nodding towards the bottle. 

“I just felt like having something besides wine tonight is all.” she lied. 

“If I recall, the last time Vodka was involved we went on a mission to christen every room in this very apartment.” Bellamy smirked at her. 

“Mmm, I do remember something about that. Play your cards right tonight, and we can go for our record.” Clarke teased. 

“6 times is one of my most proud accomplishments, but I'm always up for a challenge princess.” Bellamy told her as he placed a chaste kiss to her lips, letting his tongue slid against her lower lip, before pulling away abruptly. 

“No fair. You play dirty.” She said as she grabbed her glass and started to follow him out to where their friends were. 

“Kick everyone out of here now, and I can get as dirty as you want.” he winked at her while he left to join the group. Clarke stood in the doorway in absolute shock. She can talk to him about exclusivity later, right now she needed to figure out how to make it through game night without everyone finding out what's going on, which seemed easier before Bellamy made her completely flush. 

________________________

The rest of the summer continued the same. Bellamy and Clarke meeting up with each other to do anything from Sex, to watching Netflix, reading on lazy afternoons and going to different parks and summer activities happening in the city. During group hangouts, they seemed to develop this little game that seemed to act like foreplay. They would make small comments in passing, give each other looks or when they were at the bar, even go as far as fool around under the table to see if they could get the other to crack in front of their friends. 

It wasn’t until one Saturday morning that they were out at a farmer's market outside the city, that they ran into some of their friends while they were out together, just the two of them. Clarke was showing Bellamy the heirloom tomatoes when she heard someone call her name, “Clarke? Bellamy?” 

Clarke froze. She looked at Bellamy with her sunglasses on, hoping he could see the panic in her eyes. “Octavia, Gabriel! What a surprise.” Clarke said, turning around to see her best friend and fiancee looking cute as ever, and also confused. 

“What are you two doing here, together?” Octavia asked a bit confused. 

“Well, I was mentioning to Clarke the other day that I wanted to check out a Farmer’s Market, and she said she knew of a place and graciously agreed to come along, so I wouldn’t get lost in a new part of town.” Bellamy answered smoothly. 

“Oh. You should’ve told me. We love coming here! You guys want to do lunch since we are all here?” Octavia asked in that tone that said she wasn’t really asking, more like telling. 

“Sounds good O. We were thinking about some of those food trucks over by the water. There are some picnic tables down there too.” Clarke suggested. 

“Perfect. We will meet you over there in an hour?” Octavia confirmed. 

“See you there.” Bellamy said. 

After Octavia and Gabriel walked off hand in hand, Clarke turned back to Bellamy, “On a scale of 1-10, how bad is this going to be? Do you think she knows? Will she try to torture it out of us?” she asked all at once. 

Bellamy looked a little unsure, which is not a normal thing for him, “I don’t know. But she didn’t seem suspicious after I explained what we were doing here together, right?” he looked to Clarke for confirmation. 

“I guess we will find out at lunch.” Clarke said as they continued their shopping. 

Lunch went off without a hitch, which was a surprise to both Bellamy and Clarke. Once they got back to his apartment and unloaded their haul, he spoke, “So, that was weird right? Neither my sister or Gabriel seemed suspicious about what we were doing out together.” 

“I was just as surprised as you. Maybe they are so focused on being newly engaged and starting to plan the wedding, that they aren’t too worried about much outside of that.” Clarke suggested. 

“Yeah, maybe you’re right.” Bellamy thought as they continued to unload their groceries. 

The next day at brunch, it was just Clarke waiting for the other girls to show up. When she saw Raven and Octavia arrive together, something seemed off. 

“Hello Clarke. How has your weekend been so far?” Raven asked formally. 

“Umm, good. How has yours been?” Clarke asked a bit confused. 

“Cut the shit, Octavia told me she saw you and Bellamy hanging out at the Farmer’s Market together. That’s like, the most domestic shit ever. What the hell is going on?” Raven asked, point blank. 

“Thanks O. Couldn’t have just discussed this with me and your brother yesterday?” Clarke asked sarcastically. 

“Oh no, you don’t get to have an attitude with me after what I saw yesterday. How long has this been going on?” Octavia asked, not impressed with any denial. 

“I don’t know what you mean by ‘this’ but Bellamy and I are friends. We have been since we met. So, we hang out sometimes, didn’t think that was a crime.” Clarke said, and it technically wasn’t a lie. Their labels have never gone beyond friends. 

“You don’t even have time to hang out with us, your best friends because of your mystery person, so how the hell do you have time to hang out with Bellamy?” Raven accused. 

“Wait, what mystery person?” Octavia cut off. 

“Raven,” Clarke tried to reason. 

“Clarke here has been ditching me and is hard to get a hold of these days. She admitted a few months ago that she was seeing someone, casually, but it takes up all of her free time, so I don’t see how you’re able to hang out with Bellamy to become such good friends.” Raven shot back with a knowing look. 

The jig was up. Raven knew, and it wouldn’t take Octavia long to figure it out if she hadn’t already. 

“No lying. Are you, or are you not sleeping with my brother?” Octavia asked. 

“Please don’t be mad.” is all Clarke could get out, before she heard a collective gasp. 

“I fucking knew it. You know, you two are really bad at hiding it by the way.” Raven said nonchalant. 

“Wait, how long has this been going on?” Octavia asked, still in shock that she was right. 

“Umm, well, since we met at your engagement celebration. I’m really sorry, but we discussed not telling people and it only being our business, so I didn’t want to go and gossip about us to you guys, even though I've been dying to tell someone.” Clarke pleaded with her friends to understand. 

“Was it his idea? To not tell anyone?” Octavia asked, looking concerned. 

“I mean, we kind of decided that together. He said he wouldn’t do anything I wasn’t comfortable with.” she informed them. 

“Clarke, I love my brother you know I do, but please be careful. When Bell was going through college and even after, he kind of had a revolving door of women. One-night stands, booty calls, hook –ups, whatever you want to call it. I just don’t want you to get hurt.” Octavia told her. 

“We are just friends O. I agreed to this just as much as he did. I promise.” Clarke tried to reassure her. 

“Okay. But full disclosure I warned you, and also I do not want to hear details please!” Octavia begged. 

“Noted. Now, can we talk about wedding plans!” Clarke changed the subject, watching as Octavia went into Bride mode and the conversation moved on, but Raven gave Clarke a look that said this conversation was far from over. 


	3. All I want is You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Summer had turned to Fall, and Fall starts to bring in the Holidays. 
> 
> Will Clarke get everything she wants this year?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are 1 week away from Christmas People!! If you celebrate, I hope you're ready!
> 
> The goal is to finish this all up with a bow by Christmas day, possibly followed by and epilogue for the new year.
> 
> See you again soon!

By the time classes started for Bellamy, he and Clarke had less time to meet up. He was either in class, had office hours, or had a mountain of grading to get through. 

Clarke saw it as a chance to get some distance and hang out with their other friends. She liked Bellamy, and she was starting to get scared about that line of liking him and their arrangement and liking, liking him. She told herself that it was because they spent so much time together, and not because of actual feelings. 

It was a few weeks after the brunch when the girls found out that she found herself headed over to Raven’s for wine night. Wells was out of town working on a big project, so they decide to have a chill night in. 

As soon as Clarke arrived and her and Raven settled onto the couch with their first glass, Raven broached the topic that hadn’t been mentioned since that brunch, “So, how’s it going with Bellamy? 

“Fine. He started classes, so he’s been busier than usual which is expected.” Clarke answered vaguely. 

“I’m worried that it’s getting complicated Clarke. Friends with Benefits or hook ups or whatever you two are calling this, don’t usually spend as much time together not having sex like you do, or have their lives and friends so intertwined either. I haven’t seen you this happy and light and free in, well, maybe ever, and while I'm super happy for you, I’m worried it’s because you’ve fallen for someone who may not be interested in catching you.” Raven told her. 

“Way to kill my buzz, Rae.” Clarke tried to joke. 

“I’m being serious. Have you even talked to him? About what this is, or where it’s going? Are you two even exclusive friends with benefits, or is he out hooking up with other people?” Raven fired off the questions one after the other. 

“I don’t know Raven. We don’t discuss these things, which seems like the whole point of our original arrangement.” Clarke told her, sipping her wine. 

“Promise me something. If you ever pull your head out of your ass and stop denying your feelings, promise you will talk to him before someone gets hurt.” 

“I promise, but honestly Rae? I’m just having fun for once in what feels like my entire life.” Clarke assured her. 

Later that night when Clarke found herself in bed, wishing she wasn’t alone, she pulled up Bellamy’s contact and hit call. 

He picked up on the first ring, “Clarke, how was girl’s night in?” he asked with a smile in his voice. 

“It was good. Wine, food, gossip, the usual. How’s grading going?” 

“Not too bad. I got assigned a TA, so hopefully that will help alleviate some of this clerical work from my plate.” 

“I like the sound of that.” she laughed. 

“Could it be because I may have a little bit of extra free time, for extra curricular's?” Bellamy asked teasingly. 

“That’s exactly why. When are you free next?” she asked. 

“Friday after 5?” he asked. 

“Ugh, it’s only Tuesday. I’m lonely, buzzed on wine and horny.” she whined. 

“Jesus Clarke, you need to warn a guy.” he laughed in surprise. 

“I can be there in 15 minutes if you have time.” she suggested. 

“I don’t want you going anywhere even slightly inebriated at this time of night. Let me finish up these last few tests, then I'll head over. I’ll text you when I’m on my way. Hang tight.” he told her, then hung up. 

Clarke debated on what to do until Bellamy got there. She had a fun little bag sitting in her closet that she got the last time she and the girls went shopping. It was red, lace and hugged all of her curves. Not that her and Bellamy’s sex life needing any spicing up, but it felt good to dress up, or down every now and then. 

She slipped out of her clothes, and into the lace negligee, then found her black silk robe and tied it loosely around her. She pulled up her hair into a loose messy bun, and brushed her teeth. 

She was laying on her couch, scrolling aimlessly through Instagram when there was a knock on her door. She threw her phone on the other side of the couch, and went to answer the door with a huge smile on her face. When she opened the door, she revealed one of her favorite Bellamy’s. Jeans, Black V-neck t-shirt, and his glasses. He had a bag slung over his shoulder, she noticed as he looked up as her. 

“Hey, I'm glad you didn’t fall asleep on me.” he said as he entered into her apartment with a kiss to her cheek. 

“That was one time!” Clarke argued playfully. “Did you bring homework?” she joked, as she nodded towards the bag he was setting down on her arm chair. 

“No, thank goodness. I have office hours early tomorrow before class, and I didn’t want to have to rush home in the morning to get dressed.” he explained as he turned around and seemed to finally take in her appearance. “You could’ve just shut me up, you know.” he said as he walked towards her and grabbed her by the waist. 

“I was curious about what was in your bag.” she shrugged as she laughed. 

He leaned down to capture her lips, and she hummed into his kiss, “It’s not as interesting as what is underneath this.” he said as he slowly untied her robe. “This looks new. For me?” he asked with a dark look. 

“For you only.” she said, before she could catch herself. 

It didn’t seem to faze Bellamy in the least. He lifted her off of the ground and Clarke wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist as he walked them back to her bedroom. 

After he slowly and gently laid her down on the bed, he took a step back to toe off his shoes and his jeans, as he just looked as her like she was unreal, “You look beautiful.” he said so honestly. 

Clarke sat up on her knees and grabbed both of his hands in hers, “I missed you, and I wanted to make sure you knew what was waiting for you.” she told him. 

“You could be in sweats, and I would know all too well what I was missing out on.” he admitted. 

“Well, in that case, no need for this stuff.” she said as she shrugged off her robe. 

“Hey, I wasn’t complaining.” he laughed as he tackled her back onto the bed and started tickling her. 

“I concede!” Clarke could barely get out between laughs. 

Bellamy hovered over her, just staring at her in awe. Then he brushed a stray piece of hair away from her face, then cradled her cheek and kissed her soft and passionately. 

He slowly pulled away and looked at her face, seeing her reaction, “Wow. Whatever that was for, remind me to keep doing it.” she said a little dazed. 

“Just be you.” he said as he leaned down and kissed her again, his hands wondering from her knee, up her thigh and hiking up her negligee until his warm hand was on the bare skin of her hips. 

Clarke isn’t sure if it was the wine, how long it had been since they had the time to take their time with each other or what had shifted, but something was different in the way they moved together that night. It was slow, passionate, and like a whole new experience. 

Bellamy’s dirty talk turned into whispers of praise, and what is usually rough and rushed, turned into slow and sensual moves. He was no longer ravishing her body, but praising it with his hands and his mouth. Messy and hot kisses turned into loving and drawn out kisses. When she came it was intense, deep moans from them both instead of screams, followed by Bellamy’s release and the high was something entirely different. 

When Clarke finally came down from ecstasy, she noticed Bellamy lying beside her, slowly stroking her hair that had come out of her bun at some point. She rolled her head to the side to see him, and he had such a relaxed smile on his face, and she mirrored his with one of her own. 

“Hi.” she said simply. 

“Hey, I’ve missed you.” he told her as he kept running his fingers through her hair. 

She grabbed his hand, and brought it up to her lips to kiss it, “I missed you too.” 

“Let’s get some sleep princess.” Bellamy said as he pulled her into his embrace. 

Clarke laid there feeling beyond happy and satisfied, and sleep took over quickly. 

__________________________

The fall season came quickly, and Clarke still couldn’t pinpoint when things changed between her and Bellamy, but as he had more free time, thanks to his new TA, she found herself falling for him. 

She looked forward to spending time reading on his couch while he graded papers, going to the festivals that the Autumn brought, having take-out dinner with him in his office when he had to work late, and anything else that just let her be near him. 

She would’ve been concerned about it, had it not been for him seeming to feel the same way. He always would find a reason to touch her, hold her hand, pull her feet into his lap as they read, put his arm around her as they navigated through the busy streets, or coming to her place after a long day at the university just to cuddle up with her in bed, not even for sex. 

It was nearing Thanksgiving when she finally felt bold enough to admit her feelings, and approach the topic with Bellamy. She was doing Lunch with her Mom and Step Dad, then the group would be meeting at Octavia and Gabriel’s place for Friendsgiving Dinner. 

It was at lunch that the topic came up, “So Clarke, what’s new with you outside of work?” her mother asked politely. 

“Just the usual. Hanging out with friends and going to different things in the city.” she answered shortly. 

“What about your friend that comes to the studio sometimes?” Marcus asked innocently, not realizing what he just opened. 

“What friend? A boyfriend? Girlfriend?” Abby asked. 

“Actually, Octavia’s older brother. He moved to the city over the summer to teach at NYU. We have similar interests, so we hang out occasionally.” she answered vaguely. 

“He seems like a nice young man.” Marcus commented genuinely, with a bit of an apology in his eyes for bringing it up. 

“A professor at NYU, that’s impressive.” Abby commented. 

“We’re friends, Mom. Nothing more.” It was true, technically, but even saying it out loud made Clarke feel like it was a lie. 

“Of course, Dear. Please pass the dinner rolls.” Abby asked. 

The rest of their lunch went on as boring and robotic as it usually does. It was 4pm by the time she was able to leave and head over to Friends-giving. 

As soon as she opened the door to Octavia’s new place, she could smell all of the delicious food. She took off her coat, and shoes, and headed into the living room to find the guys sitting on the couch yelling at one of the football games, “Happy Thanksgiving!” Clarke said to them all. 

“Happy Thanksgiving to you too. How was lunch at the palace?” Murphy inquired. 

“Ha. Ha. The usual, glad to be here now though.” she said as she directed that last bit in Bellamy’s direction. He looked back at her and smiled. 

She joined the girls in the kitchen, who were leaning or sitting on the various counters, glasses of wine in hand while watching a timer for some of the food. 

“Clarkey! Happy Turkey Day!” Octavia told her. 

“Happy Turkey Day to you too!” She said as Octavia wrapped her arm around her waist and leaned her head on Clarke’s shoulder. 

“I hope you’re not handling fire or sharp objects in this state.” she joked as she patted Octavia’s head. 

“I’m not, just on timer watch. Harper is in charge.” she laughed as Harper posed in her apron. 

“How was lunch?” Raven asked. 

“Fine. Mom made her passive aggressive comments and pretended to be interested in my life, Marcus accidentally slipped and brought up Bellamy.” 

“What?! How does he know?” Octavia shout whispered. 

“Bell comes by the office sometimes for lunch, or if I have to work late, so he was curious.” 

“And what did you tell them?” Raven asked. 

“The truth, that we’re friends.” Clarke shrugged as she went to pour her own glass of wine. 

“In what world is that version the truth?” Harper snorted. 

“This one. We still haven’t talked about anything past that.” Clarke said honestly. 

“You two need to figure your shit out and talk.” Octavia stated. 

“Thanks. He has a lot of end of the year stuff and finals at the university, and I’ve been busting my ass for these clients we have for the holidays. I already plan on talking to him.” Clarke told them. 

“Thank God! You two can finally stop trying to secretly eye fuck at group nights, which by the way neither of you are very discreet about.” Raven said bluntly. 

“Good God, I do not want to know this.” Octavia said as she went to cover her ears, and left the kitchen. 

“She’ll get over it.” Harper laughed. 

Clarke looked back into the living room to see her friends starting to gather together around the table, and couldn't help but think that she had a lot to be thankful for this year.


	4. Baby it's Cold Outside

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke and Bellamy begin their Christmas Adventures! What happens when they realize their feelings, but don't talk about it? Oh yeah, Bellarke happens. 
> 
> Imagine how tired we are.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for sticking with this. I have a hard time trying to rush a story and not give much development, but that's what Christmas Fics/Movies are all like, right? ;)
> 
> On a positive note, TODAY IT BOB'S BIRTHDAY! Go wish him a Happy Birthday if you haven't already, and I'll be up, writing another chapter, waiting on a certain birthday post.
> 
> See you on the other side friends!

After everyone had stuffed themselves to the brim, and filled up on wine, they all decided to go their separate ways for the evening. Clarke was one of the more sober ones, so she took charge of calling cabs for everyone. 

Once everyone was safely on their way home, she turned around to see a very tipsy Bellamy smiling back at her, “Alright, looks like we are the last ones. Now, how about we get you home? She asked him. 

“But, I wanna go home with you.” He said seriously. 

“Well, I am too full for anything other than sleep.” Clarke let him know. 

“Good. We will sleep, sleep sounds amazing right now. Why does turkey make you so sleepy?” Bellamy asked as he put his arm around Clarke’s shoulder and leaned on her as they started walking back to her place. 

“Something about melatonin? I’m not sure, but there is a scientific reason as to why it makes you sleepy, I just can’t remember it right now.” She laughed. 

“I guess you left Med school before they got to the fun parts like that?” he asked, and if it was anyone else but Bellamy, the mention of her not pursuing to finish Med school would’ve made her hackles raise, but she knew he meant nothing nasty by his comment. 

  
“I’m afraid so, but we can google it tomorrow.” 

They continued their way in the cold night to Clarke’s apartment, and saw so many of the streets already lite up for Christmas, “I’ve always wanted to see New York at Christmas Time. I can’t believe I get to live here now to see it.” Bellamy said in awe of all the lights. 

“It really is something special this time of year. We will have to make sure you see and do all of the typical things that are expected for a true New York Christmas.” Clarke smiled up at him. 

“As long as I can secure you as my personal tour guide.” Bellamy told her, as he hugged her tighter and kissed the top of her head as they approached her building. 

Clarke could feel herself falling. She had a plan, a big plan to confess her feelings once Bellamy was able to get through finals week and not be as stressed as he had been since fall midterms with all the workload he had going on. 

She didn’t want to add to that stress, just on the off chance that he didn’t feel the same way, but nights like tonight is what made her feel silly for ever thinking Bellamy didn’t have more feelings for her too. 

They both crawled into her bed that night full, happy and sleepy. It took no time at all to hear soft snores come from Bellamy while Clarke was snuggled up to him with her head on his chest. She looked up at his sleeping face and couldn’t help the smile that came over her face. Yep, she broke the number one rule of Friends with Benefits. She fell for him, and it felt like the best thing to ever happen to her. 

______________________________ 

Clarke woke up to the sound of someone banging around in her kitchen. One look at the other side of her bed told her Bellamy was up. She grabbed her fuzzy robe and slipped on her slippers to go find him. 

When she walked into her living room, she could see Bellamy’s messy mop of curls sticking up in every direction turning on the coffee machine. He must’ve heard her, because he turned around with a sheepish look on his face, “Sorry, I couldn’t find the coffee, and I may be a little hungover.” 

“Sorry, I moved it last week when I bought a new set of mugs. Here, let me make the coffee while you sit down.” she said, as she made her way into the kitchen to take over. 

“Actually, I was thinking about a shower to wake up a bit, if you don’t mind.” 

“Absolutely. You know you don’t have to ask about anything here. I’ll get some breakfast going, you go shower.” she instructed him, as she shooed him towards the bathroom. 

Once she heard the shower turn on, Clarke started on making pancakes. 

She had just finished her first cup of coffee, and was starting to pour another one when Bellamy came out of the steamy bathroom in nothing but a towel slung low around his hips. 

“I finally feel human again, thank you. PANCAKES?!?” He asked surprised. 

“Yes, Carbs and Coffee will fight any hangover, from personal experience.” she said, smiling over her steamy mug. 

“I bet you do.” he laughed as they got comfortable on the couch. 

Once they finished, Bellamy’s normal energy returned, “So, what’s first?!” 

“What do you mean?” Clarke asked, genuinely confused. 

“Christmas, Clarke!” he said like it was the most common thing. 

“Oh, well I usually decorate the apartment with Octavia, then we get a tree, then shopping and baking, but since she doesn’t live here anymore, I guess she will be doing those things at her new place with Gabriel.” She realized for the first time that this was going to be her first Christmas living alone. 

“Well, if you don’t mind a different Blake, that sounds amazing!” he told her, looking like a kid on Christmas Morning already. 

Clarke could barely contain her affection for him in that very moment. She set her coffee cup down, and went into the extra room that use to be Octavia’s. She slid out two large storage buckets into the living room, and saw Bellamy look at her in confusion. 

“These are what I have left of the Christmas decorations that O and I shared. I guess we can go through them and see what is missing, and add that to the shopping list.” Clarke pointed out 

They unpacked the boxes to find some outside strings of lights, some lights for the tree, and some generic ornaments, along with a few personalized ones, and a stocking with a C on it. 

“Well, this looks like a good start. Let’s swing by my place so I can grab some clothes, then it’s off to the stores!” Bellamy said as he went to grab his clothes from the night before. 

Clarke laughed at how enthusiastic he seemed about Christmas. She went to her room to grab some more weather appropriate clothes, then they were headed off on their adventure. 

______________________________ 

Clarke and Bellamy were leaving their fourth store, when they decided to break for lunch. They got more lights, ornaments, a tree stand and skirt, some wrapping paper and gift tags, a wreath, holiday mugs and a stocking with a B on it. 

They were sitting inside a cafe waiting for their food when Clarke thought to ask, “So, we got all of this stuff for my apartment, what about yours?” 

“I will be spending Christmas with Octavia at her place, and once exams are done, I figured I'd be at your place a whole lot more.” he said wiggling his eyebrows. “Plus, I don’t want to decorate my place and then never spend any time there.” 

“So, you plan on staying with me all break, and helping me decorate my place? That sounds fun! I’ve never lived alone during the holidays, so it will be nice to share it with someone.” she said, unable to contain her smile. 

It was right there, the right time to ask him about their newly developing relationship that was well past the line of a hook up, or even friends with benefits. They were in full blown domestic relationship territory. 

Clarke was working up the courage to say something, but just then their food came. 

“Are you okay with that? I didn’t mean to assume.” Bellamy said, looking a bit nervous. 

“Oh, no of course! Sorry, I think I zoned out for a second.” Clarke told him with a reassuring smile. 

They continued their lunch, then finished their shopping. Once they were finished, they unloaded their haul into Clarke’s living room. 

“So, where do we start?” Bellamy asked, looking around the room in confusion. 

“We start tomorrow. I’m exhausted, and it will be easier to start with the tree.” she told him, as she grabbed his hand and pulled him towards her bedroom. 

“On a scale of 1-10, how exhausted are you?” he asked jokingly. 

“I can think of a few things that can keep me awake.” she told him over her shoulder, with a devilish smirk. 

Bellamy chased her into her room, unable to keep his hands off of her the rest of the night. 

The next morning, Clarke woke up to an empty bed, again. “I feel like I've already lived this day.” she mumbled as she crawled out of bed and found Bellamy’s sweater on the floor and threw it on with some panties. 

It seemed dark in her apartment, she looked outside her window to see that it was dark and gloomy, and starting to snow. She saw Bellamy coming out of the spare room just then, with a step ladder. He walked towards her balcony door before she cleared her throat, making him startle and almost drop the ladder on the floor. 

“Good God, you scared me!” he said once he caught his breath. 

“What are you doing, little elf?” Clarke asked, trying to be serious and not laugh. 

“I woke up little bit early, and I wanted to get the outside lights up before the weather gets nasty.” he told her sheepishly. 

“You are really into this, huh?” 

“It’s Christmas Clarke. Of course I'm into it!” he told her like it was the most obvious thing in the world. 

“Oh, excuse me. I’ll get the coffee, and please be careful. The last thing I need is an angry Octavia because her brother fell off of my balcony.” she laughed as she went to the kitchen. 

“Yeah, what a way for her to find out that we are sleeping together.” he said as he headed outside. 

Clarke froze in the kitchen. Should she tell him that his sister already knows? Would he be mad that she told about them? Does he think that they’re still just sleeping together still? 

Clarke walked over to the balcony door with her mug of steaming coffee, to see Bellamy was almost done, except for the top that he couldn’t reach. How long had he been working on this? Never mind, “Well, one could argue it’s more than just sleeping together.” she said slowly. 

“Well, yeah, you’re like one of my favorite people, my best friend besides Miller honestly.” he said as his back was turned towards her while he finished hanging up the lights up on a hook. 

Clarke’s head was spinning. Sleeping together, best friend? So, this was just a friends with benefits for him? “Yeah, of course.” 

“Done! Okay, let’s plug it in.” Bellamy said as he hopped off the ladder, and plugged in the lights. 

Clarke gasped in surprise. He had strung white fairy lights all along her balcony railing, and swooped across the top as well. Then he lined the window and door with even more lights. 

“Bellamy, this is amazing.” she told him, still in awe. 

“It is, isn’t it?” He said looking right at her, while she took in the lights before her. 

Bellamy isn’t sure when things changed, hell it could’ve changed after that first night together. Being there with Clarke, seeing how a few strands of lights made her light up with happiness, he couldn’t think of anything else he would rather do than to tell her exactly how he feels about her. And what better time than Christmas time? 


	5. When I feel all alone, you remind me of home.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You feel the way you do, and you haven’t told him.” Wells shot back at her. “When are you going to tell him?”
> 
> If that ain’t the question of this entire thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas Weekend! Here is some Bellarke Christmas fluff and them being idiots about their feelings, because cliches 😉

Clarke decide after her conversation with Bellamy, that she needed some clarity. Her and Bellamy continued their weekend as planned. They went to get a tree and decorated the rest of her apartment. On Sunday evening, Bellamy was packing up his bag to head back to his place.

“I have 1 more week of classes, then a week of finals, then I am free for 4 weeks!” He told her as he pulled her into a hug before he left.

“Mmm, sounds nice. I guess I’ll see you next weekend?” she asked hesitantly.

“Unfortunately. I have extra office hours all week, so I won’t see you until Friday at Mirage.” he said looking at her sadly.

“Well, good luck. You know where to find me.” she said with a small smile as she walked him to the door.

“One more thing before I go, turn on the switch on your night stand when you go to bed tonight.” and with that elusive request, he kissed the top of her head and left.

Clarke was too eager to wait, and rushed right to her room as soon as her front door shut. She found a small remote on her nightstand and turned it on. Her entire bedroom lite up with twinkly lights, and the ceiling had what looked like constellations mapped out.

Clarke laid out on her bed looking up at Bellamy’s handy work, and wondered when he had time to do it. She pulled her phone out just then and hit call.

“Miss me already?” he laughed into the phone.

“Yes, but that’s not why I called.” she laughed.

“Ouch, I’m hurt.” he feigned.

“When did you have time to do all of this?” she asked still in shock.

“When you were snoring on the couch this afternoon.” he teased.

“I do not snore!”

“Oh, you do. Good thing you’re cute.” he told her.

“Thank you for this. For all of this. The apartment has never looked this good, and it was a lot of fun.” Clarke told him genuinely.

“Anytime. It was a lot of fun, and I can’t wait for what else the rest of Christmas has in store.” he told her honestly.

“Me too. Good night Bell.”’

“Good night Princess.”

Clarke continued to stare up at her ceiling. She felt stupid for even thinking Bellamy only saw her as a hookup. She was excited for the rest of Christmas, and to be able to spend it with Bellamy.

_________________________

Monday came all too quickly after the long holiday weekend. Clarke was sitting in their conference room, waiting for their meeting to begin. Wells took a seat next to her, “I hear we have some producers coming in for music for their holidays movies that are coming out.”

“Nothing like the last minute. I don’t know why they wait so long. I know the song is only ever used for the trailer, or the end credits, but still.” Clarke complained. This wasn’t the first time this sort of thing happened.

“But, that’s why they pay us extra. To get it done right and a fast turnaround.” Wells sighed in agreement.

Marcus came into the conference room, and just as they suspected, had a client that wanted 3 different Christmas love type songs for their production in the next 2 weeks.

“Clarke, you and Wells will be handing off any other products until this is done. This is going to be a top priority, so let’s get to work.” he told them.

“Looks like it’s just us. Ready to knock it out?” Wells asked her.

“Let’s get to work!” Clarke said, trying to gather any enthusiasm.

_______________________________

Bellamy felt like he was drowning in his own work. He had a constant revolving door of student appointments during his office hours for students looking for help with extra credit or final preparations.

He was either in classes, or in his office from 7am until 9pm. He was eating at his desk in between meetings and grading. It was late on Wednesday when his TA, Echo, came into his office with a big sigh.

“I cannot wait until winter break. This is an insane amount of paperwork.” she told him.

“Yeah, I may have been a bit ambitious taking on this many classes my first semester here, but they were there for the taking. It’s getting late, you should head out.” He told her, not even bothering to look up from one of the papers he was making notes on.

“If you’re sure. I do have a paper to finish myself. I will see you tomorrow for the 8am class. Goodnight Professor Blake.” she said, as she left his office.

  
  


Clarke was taking a break from working in the studio non-stop, when she decided to grab takeout and take it over to Bellamy, knowing he would still be in his office.

She had never been to the university at night, and it seemed so creepy. Once she entered into his office building, she heard high heels clicking on the marble floor.

“Are you looking for someone?” The girl asked her.

“Oh, yes I’m just bringing dinner to Professor Blake.” Clarke told her.

“He’s pretty busy, does he know you’re coming?” Echo asked.

“No, but we’re close friends. He’ll be fine with me being here, but thanks for looking out for him.” Clarke told her passive aggressively.

She hadn’t left the studio much except to shower, change and take a cat nap, and she didn’t need whoever this was trying to give her attitude.

Clarke continued to his office, and saw Bellamy with his head laying face first on his desk, “Knock, Knock.” Clarke called out to him.

He lifted his head and gave her a tired smile, “I am so glad to see someone who doesn’t need final help from me.”

“That’s a pretty low bar there, Professor Blake. By the way, one of those students just interrogated me as to why I was here to see you.” Clarke told him, as she walked over and started handing Bellamy some of the take out containers.

“That’s my TA, Echo. She’s a bit intense, and I don’t think I would be too far-fetched to say that she has a crush on me.” Bellamy shrugged.

Clarke froze, before quickly recovering, “Crush huh? Not interested?” she asked.

“Not at all. Plus, I’m her boss, and I’m pretty sure she is into some weird stuff. Not my thing.” he told her as they ate.

Clarke just hummed along, “AND, any free time I have, I would rather spend with you.” he said with emphasis, then winked at her when she looked up at him.

“How thoughtful. So, I have been trapped with Wells in the studio for the last 48 hours. I forgot how grumpy he gets with little to no sleep.” she laughed, changing the subject.

Bellamy looked at her for a minute, considering asking why she changed the subject, but let it go, “I can imagine that would make anyone grumpy. How is it coming along? The songs?” he asked her.

“We have a few outlines, working on some of the melodies, but it’s still very much a work in progress.” she admitted.

“Tell me about them, maybe a fresh pair of ears can spark a break through.” he offered.

“Well, the theme is being separated and trying to make it home to the one you love for Christmas. It’s about a couple, and that’s about all we know.” Clarke told him.

“A lot of people get inspiration from personal experience. Maybe we just need the right story to get it going.” she continued.

“Maybe.” he said with a soft smile.

They finished up dinner, and Clarke got up to leave, when Bellamy caught her attention, “Clarke, wait.” he went around his desk and wrapped her up in his arms, ”Thank you, for bringing dinner, and just being here. This week has sucked, and it was a welcomed break.”

“For me too. But, unfortunately, it’s back to work for both of us it seems.” she said, nodding towards the large pile of papers on his desk.

“So it seems. Be safe getting back, and let me know when you get there.” he told her.

“I will. Night Bell.” she said, as she left his office and headed back to the studio.

When she got back inside, Wells was playing around on the Piano, “Back so soon?” he asked.

“Yeah, we got work to do.” she told him as she sat on the couch across from him, picking up her guitar.

“Did you get any inspiration on your walkabout?” Wells teased.

“Not like I was hoping.” she absently told him, as she started picking at the strings.

“I thought a nice break with Bellamy would’ve sparked something.” Wells mumbled.

“What?! How do you know that’s where I went?” Clarke accused.

Wells’ eyes went wide, and he looked like a cat that ate the canary, “Don’t be mad.” he started.

“Raven.” Clarke said.

“It’s not her fault. I tricked it out of her. And she felt terrible after she said it.” he told her.

“Traitor!” Clarke huffed.

“You love him.” Wells didn’t question.

“What?” Clarke asked.

“Don’t lie to me. We’ve known each other a long time Clarke. You love him.”

“How do you know that?!” she asked incredulously.

“You light up at the mention of him, you’re so happy after seeing him, you go to him when something is wrong or you need cheering up, you’re just happy.” he told her honestly.

Clarke looked away from him, because she knew she couldn’t deny it, not to Wells or herself anymore. “You figured it out before I did.” she laughed.

“Figured what out?” he asked confused.

“That I Love Bellamy.” she said looking down at her hands.

“Wait, you didn’t know?”

“Maybe I did, but I wouldn’t let myself admit it. We aren’t even together Wells.” Clarke told him.

“You may not have that label, but you two are more together than anyone I’ve ever seen. And you’re crazy if you don’t think he feels the same way.”

Clarke’s head snapped up at that, “What are you talking about?”

“The way he looks at you Clarke, especially when you’re not looking, he looks at you like you hung the moon. He looks at you the way I look at Raven, the way Gabriel looks at Octavia, that man is in love with you too.” he admitted.

“I can’t think that way.” Clarke shook her head.

“Why not? Cause of Finn? Lexa? Cillian? Don’t let their stupid mistakes keep you from something amazing Clarke.”

“No, because he said we are best friends who sleep together. He would’ve said something if he felt the way I do.” she told him.

“You feel the way you do, and you haven’t told him.” Wells shot back at her. “When are you going to tell him?” he asked.

“I was going to find the right time to tell him, after finals, after we finish this project, when there is time to deal with the fallout if he doesn’t feel the same way.”

“So, Christmas?” Wells laughed.

“Maybe.” Clarke shrugged.

“Well, that’s one hell of a gift.” Wells laughed.

Clarke thought about it, then it hit her, “That’s it! Wells, getting the person you love a gift. The gift of love, of yourself, being home together for Christmas. That’s the direction!”

Wells looked at her like she grew a second head. Then started playing a soft melody on the piano and smiled, “Why Clarke Griffin, I think we’ve had a break through.”

They wrote and played until the sun came up, then parted ways for a few hours to get some sleep before continuing their progress.

Clarke made it all the way home, got a shower and was just about to slide into bed for a few hours when a knock came at her door. She groaned and headed to the door and didn’t even bother looking through the peep hole to see who would be at her apartment at 5:30am.

She opened the door to reveal a rumpled looking Bellamy in pajama pants, a heavy coat and boots, along with his overnight bag.

“What do I owe the pleasure at this hour?” she tried to joke.

Bellamy grabbed her hand and walked to her bedroom where he took off his boots and flopped onto her bed, “You said you were finally leaving the studio, and I wanted to get a few hours of sleep with you before I have to get up for classes.” he told her as he wrapped his arm around her middle and pulled her close to him.

She smiled so wide she couldn’t even hide it. She looked down and saw that Bellamy’s eyes were already closed, so she closed her own and started to drift off to sleep as she played with his hair. Yeah, she loved him and couldn’t wait until his birthday coming up right before Christmas, so she could play one of the songs she wrote that was all inspired by him.


	6. If we can make it through Decemeber

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bellamy walks in on a conversation that he didn't want to hear.
> 
> Then he makes a stupid decision. Stupid, Stupid Decision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is it a Bellarke Fic if there isn't a big misunderstanding and stupid decisions made directly afterwards?
> 
> Happy Christmas Eve, Eve! My gift to you is a another chapter coming tonight, so be on the look out!

It was 1 week until Christmas when Bellamy finally finished handing out his last final of the semester. He was beyond excited, and couldn’t wait to get back to his office to start grading papers so he could officially be on break. Over the last week, he had only seen Clark once since she was holed up in her studio with Wells, working on these songs for a demanding client. 

He made it back to his office and just sat down to start with grading when Echo came in and sat across from him, “I am officially done with my finals. If you want, I can take half of that stack to start helping with grading.” she offered. 

“That would be great actually. I would like to get as many done today, so we aren’t stuck here too long tomorrow.” Bellamy told her. 

“So, what are your plans for your 4 weeks of freedom.” she asked. 

It seemed innocent enough, “I am spending it with my Friends and my Sister. What about you?” 

“I’ll be with my family upstate from Sunday until after the new year skiing.” 

“That sounds like fun. I hope you come back to school with all your limbs still intact.” he joked. 

“Don’t worry Professor, I’ll make sure at least my arms don’t get broken, so I can still help you with grading.” she laughed. 

___________________________________ 

Clarke was still in the Studio with Wells when Marcus walked in, “Clarke, your Mother wanted me to remind you about the annual Christmas Eve Ball for the Hospital next week, and wanted to know if she should count a plus one for you as well.” 

Wells snorted, and Clarke kicked his ankle, “I need to double check, but I will let her know by tonight.” she told Marcus, as he nodded and then left them to continue their work. 

“So, you’re bringing Bellamy, right? Cause Raven and I will be there, and I’m sure Jackson is bringing Miller, so worst case scenario you can make it seem like a group thing, although I don’t think it will come to a worst case.” Wells told her confidently. 

“I was meaning to ask him in person, but we haven’t been able to see each other in a week, and I honestly forgot about it with everything going on. I’ll call him now while I'm thinking about it.” Clarke said, as she grabbed her phone and headed for the hallway for some privacy. 

She hit call, and Bellamy picked up on the second ring, 

“Hey there, Princess. What do I owe the pleasure?’ 

Clarke laughed, he could be such a dork sometimes, “Do you have a minute?” 

“For you? Always. What’s up?” he asked. 

“Well, I meant to ask you this a few weeks ago, but things got so busy and I was just reminded. Do you have plans Christmas Eve night?” she asked, hopeful. 

“Not that I can think of. I think most of us were meeting on Christmas Day at Octavia’s, so I believe the evening before is free.” he told her. 

“How would you feel about getting dressed up and eating overly expensive food, dancing to Christmas Music and enjoying an open bar with me?” she asked, trying to make it sound as enticing as possible 

“Well, when you put it that way.” he laughed, “What’s the catch?” 

“It’s the Hospitals annual Christmas Eve Ball. So, lots of rich people dressed up and celebrating how generous they were to donate to the hospital. Oh, and most likely meeting my mother who is the host.” she said biting her lip in nervousness. 

“You had me sold on the open bar.” then he quickly corrects, “I meant, on your company for the evening.” he laughed. 

“Mhmm, I thought so. Well, I’ll let you get back to grading, and I’ll see you Friday?” She asked hopeful. His birthday was on Friday and he would also be celebrating the end of finals with everyone with a party. 

“Yes to Friday, but I should be done with grading around lunch time tomorrow, if you would want a break. I can bring lunch to you this time?” he asked. 

“That would be perfect! I will see you tomorrow.” she said excitedly, as they hung up. 

Clarke walked back into the studio with a stupid grin, and Wells just shook his head and laughed, “Girl, you got it bad.” 

She shoved his shoulder, “I know, but I can’t help it.” they both laughed as they went over their second song. 

Bellamy hung up the phone with Clarke, and he could feel the huge smile on his face, “Girlfriend?” Echo asked, looking at his reaction. 

“Well, not exactly, yet.” he corrected. 

She had a bit of a confused look on her face, “From the sounds of that phone call, and the look on your face, I cannot imagine why she’s not yet.” 

“It’s complicated, and we are both a little too busy, but that should change soon.” he told her. 

Echo just nodded, and they continued grading. 

__________________________________ 

Thursday came around, and Bellamy had just finished grading the last test, “Done! Now, to just input them into the system and we are home free.” he said to Echo. 

“Go to your lunch Blake. I can input them into the system.” she told him. 

“What? Are you sure?” he asked. 

“Yes, I am perfectly capable of inputting the grades into the system. It’s good, just go.” she laughed at him. 

“Thank you so much. If you need anything, please let me know.” he told her as he grabbed his coat and bag, and headed out. He called the Thai place he knows that Clarke loves, and put in the order for pickup so it would be ready when he got there. 

When Bellamy finally got to the studio, he saw the door was cracked open and heard voices arguing, and it stopped him in his tracks. 

“Nice song Clarke, did I really inspire you that much?” he heard a man say. 

“Oh yeah, who else could it possibly be?” Clarke replied sarcastically. 

“So, you aren’t with someone else that you wrote this song about?” the man asked. 

“It’s none of your Business Cillian.” Clarke said abruptly. 

“Oh, c’mon Clarke, it’s the holidays, and it’s a beautiful song. If it’s not about me, who else could it possibly be?” he kept asking. 

“It’s no one, okay?” Clarke said with finality. 

Bellamy didn’t know why it bothered him so much to hear her say that he was no one, but it did. Even though the logical part of his brain was trying to tell him that she just didn’t want to talk about it with her ex-boyfriend. Then, he heard something else that made him stop from opening the door and announcing his presence. 

“When I heard the song and saw that it came from you, I had to come back and see you in person. I was wrong Clarke, what I did to you, I was hoping that this song was about us, and that you would want to give us a second chance.” Cillian said. 

Bellamy didn’t want to hear anymore. He took the food he had gotten them for lunch, and just went back to his office. 

When Echo looked up from her laptop to see him coming into the office, she was shocked, “What are you doing back?” 

“Clarke was busy, so I didn’t want all this to go to waste. I thought we could have lunch here and get these finished up quicker.” he offered. 

“Sure. Thanks for this.” she said as they started to unpack the food. 

Bellamy felt sick and couldn’t bring himself to do anything but play with his food. Echo noticed. 

“Are you sure you’re okay? She asked. 

“Yeah, just ready for break.” he lied, then he thought about it, “Actually, are you still going to be in town tomorrow?” 

“Yeah, I don’t leave until Sunday. What’s up?” she asked. 

“My birthday is tomorrow, and some of my friends are getting together to celebrate. We are meeting at Mirage around 8pm tomorrow. If you weren’t busy, you should come.” he extended the invitation. 

“Well, that sounds like a nice enough offer. I’ll be there.” she smiled at him. 

They finished their lunch and grading, then parted ways until tomorrow. 

_______________________________ 

To say that Clarke was surprised to see Cillian of all people come into the studio as the contact for their client to hear the songs would be an understatement. 

After their argument, and Cillian asking for a second chance, Clarke was stunned, until Cillian started speaking to her again, “Clarke, did you hear me?” 

All Clarke could think of was Bellamy, how he has made her feel the way no one else has, how much she had grown to love him, how she couldn’t wait to see him or even hear from him, and it all clicked, “No Cillian. I found someone, maybe my only one, the one I truly love, and yes he is the reason these songs are as good as they are. So, please leave. We will send the final edits via email, and don’t come back to this studio, or I will have Marcus personally call the police and file a restraining order on a former employee.” she told him. 

Shortly after Cillian left, Wells came out of the booth, “Damn, I thought he was going to evaporate on the spot. I’m so proud of you for standing up for yourself Clarke.” he told her, beaming with pride. 

“Thanks. I’m just glad that that’s over. Bellamy should be here soon with Lunch.” She said, as she pulled her phone out to check the time. It was 3pm, no missed calls or texts. That was weird. 

She called Bellamy and it went straight to voicemail. Weirder. So she texted him and waited. A response never came. 

_____________________ 

Bellamy ignored Clarke’s call, then he got a text message from her. 

_“Hey, not sure if grading went late, but don’t worry about trying to rush over here if you’re busy. I will see you at the bar tomorrow! Miss you.”_

He laughed bitterly to himself, “Sure, of course you don’t want me to come for lunch. Wouldn’t want your ex to see you with some nobody.” he said to himself. He turned his phone off for the rest of the night so he wouldn’t be tempted to pick up and responded to her. 

Bellamy woke up the next morning another year older. He decided to go for a run. He didn’t sleep well with all the thoughts about Clarke. He was sure that she felt the same way about him, but maybe he was just a place holder until her boyfriend came back. 

He grabbed some coffee and breakfast on his way back to his apartment, and then he took a shower before he decided to turn his phone back on. 

There were all the expectant birthday texts from his friends, and there was a voicemail from Clarke. He wasn’t sure how many times she may have called him. He hesitated on listening to the voicemail, worried he would crack and call her if he heard her voice. He eventually hit play. 

“ _Hey Bell. I guess you’re probably asleep, but I’m just now leaving the studio and its officially midnight, so I wanted to be the first to wish you a Happy Birthday. I was hoping I could catch you before you were asleep so I could head over, but since you seem to already be in bed, I will stop by on the way to the studio tomorrow with birthday breakfast around 8:30. See you later today, and again Happy Birthday!”_

Bellamy panicked and looked at the time on his phone. It was just past 8am, and he didn’t want to see her just yet. He pulled up her contact and quickly typed out a message. 

_“Hey, thanks for the birthday wishes. I’m not home, so don’t bother coming over this morning. See you at the bar tonight.”_

He decided that he would double check all of his finals, and make sure everything else was posted and taken care of. Once he knew all of his responsibilities were officially taken care of, he headed over to Miller’s and figured it was okay to start drinking. After all, it was his birthday. 


	7. All I want for Christmas, is for you and me to fix this.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bellamy's bad decisions are even harsher in the daylight, Clarke is a runner, they both suck at communicating, so there's a perfect recipe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I mention Angst? Cause, here it is in all it's glory! Guess who is already working on the last few chapters?!
> 
> Happy Christmas to All!

Clarke received Bellamy’s text and frowned. He was acting fishy, but she was hoping that maybe it was just her lack of sleep. 

Clarke instead headed to the Studio to meet Wells, and finish up Bellamy’s birthday gift. She could make sure he was okay when she saw him tonight. 

“Ready to email these off?” Wells asked her, basically bouncing up and down with excitement as soon as she walked in. 

“Ready as I’ll ever be.” she said as she looked at the files attached to the final email. 

‘I’ll be Home.’ and ‘Home this Christmas.’ were finally finished and she was incredibly proud of them. She was going to send her third song, but decide that it was something she wanted to keep and give to Bellamy. 

She walked into the booth and gave Wells a thumbs up to start playing “My song for you.” which was her song for Bellamy. They were doing the final recording today, so it would be ready for that night. She couldn’t wait. 

___________________________________ 

Bellamy was already on his way to drunk when he finally got to the bar with Miller and Murphy in tow. When he showed up at Miller’s that afternoon with alcohol, they decided to call Murphy over too. 

When he arrived, Murphy asked, “What happened? Are you already having a midlife crisis?” 

“No, just felt like treating myself early, now that finals are done.” Bellamy stated vaguely. 

“Trouble in paradise?” Miller asked as he cracked open a beer. 

“What? What are you talking about?” Bellamy asked confused. 

“You and blondie.” Murphy said casually. 

“What? Who told you about that?” Bellamy asked shocked. 

“Dude, we’re your friends, and you two are not subtle. Plus, we aren’t the only ones who know apparently.” Miller told him. 

“I need new friends. So, you all know and have been what? Talking about it behind our backs?” Bellamy asked. 

“Yep.: Murphy said simply. 

“Great. Well, no need to talk about it anymore. Pretty sure she’s getting back with her Ex.” Bellamy said, as he grabbed another beer. 

“And that explains the day drinking.” Murphy said. Then he pulled out a bottle of whiskey from the bag he had, “Might as well get to the good stuff.” 

Miller grabbed a few glasses, and Bellamy lifted his in thanks. “Happy Fucking Birthday.” 

Bellamy settled into their usual booth at Mirage and they started to order drinks. He really wished he didn’t notice, but he couldn’t help that the first thing he realized was that a certain blonde was missing. 

________________________________ 

Clarke was rushing to get home after the final editing on the song took a bit longer than she thought. Wells had finally told her that he promised on his life he would make sure it made it to the bar that night, and she needed to go home and get ready. 

She wanted to make sure she took a little bit of extra time to look nice. It’s not every day that you profess your love to your best friend on his birthday. 

She put on a champagne gold mini dress and leather jacket and a pair of black pumps. Then she did her hair in loose waves and a smoky eye makeup look. 

She grabbed her long thick coat to put on over her outfit and called a cab to take her to Mirage since it was too cold and starting to snow outside to walk.

When the cab pulled up to the bar, Clarke practically ran inside to avoid the cold, and to get to see Bellamy. When she walked into the bar, she saw her friends sitting in their usual booth, but didn’t see the birthday boy. She decided to walk over to the bar first to grab a drink for herself when she saw the back of Bellamy. 

What froze her to the spot she was standing in, was seeing a pair of hands come around his neck and start carding their fingers through his hair. Then she saw the face of a woman, a familiar looking woman whisper in his ear and laugh. 

Clarke’s heart just stopped. She saw Bellamy move in to kiss the woman, that she just placed as his TA she had run into that one evening at his office and felt sick. She felt the tears start to fall, and turned around and walked out of the bar before any of her friends saw her. As she got outside and started to look around for a cab, the snow started coming down. 

Just when she was looking at her phone to call a car, a cab pulled up and Wells hopped out, “Hey, I told you I would be here. And don’t worry I brought it. You didn’t have to wait out in the cold for me.” 

As he approached her, he saw that Clarke was crying, “Clarke, what happened?” he said concerned. 

“I need to go. I need your cab.” was all she said before she got into the cab he just vacated. 

“Clarke! What happened?” Wells shouted after her, but Clarke was in the cab and taking off before she answered him. 

She told the driver her address, then sat back in her seat and just let the tears silently fall like the snow falling outside of her window. 

Wells walked into the bar and headed straight for the group's booth. Raven jumped up to greet him, but stopped when she saw his face looking murderous. “Babe, what’s wrong?” she asked him. 

“What happened to Clarke?” He asked, the anger radiating off of him. 

“What do you mean? She hasn’t shown up yet?” Octavia asked confused and concerned. 

“She just stole my cab and couldn’t get out of here fast enough. She was standing out in the cold crying.” he explained. 

“Who was crying?” Bellamy asked in his drunken state as he came up to the table, with his arm slung around Echo, more so to keep him standing up.

Wells didn’t even hesitate before he grabbed Bellamy with both hands by the collar, “You. What the fuck did you do to her?!” 

Raven jumped in and pulled Wells off of Bellamy, “What are you even talking about?” Bellamy slurred. 

“Clarke. She was outside in the cold, crying and jumped in a cab and left before I could even get out of her what was wrong? Seeing you draped all over HER,” he pointed to Echo, “Makes sense now.” he spit at Bellamy. 

“Woah, Woah, hold on. What the hell is going on?!” Octavia shouted. 

“Guys this is Echo, we work together.” Bellamy introduced. 

“Clarke came in and saw this. That’s why she left.” Raven put together. 

“Why does she care who I hang out with? Isn’t she busy with her boyfriend?” Bellamy shot. 

“She doesn’t have a boyfriend Asshat!” Wells told him. 

“Not what it sounded like when I came to the office yesterday.” Bellamy told him. 

“Cillian showed up out of nowhere and Clarke, not so kindly, told him to fuck off because she was in love with someone else! I was in the damn room the whole time.” Wells yelled back. 

“Shit.” Bellamy seemed to sober up. 

“Yeah, you fucked up.” Wells said as he threw a thumb drive on the table, “Happy Birthday Blake.” he said then walked out of the bar, Raven right behind him. 

Everyone just stared in shock at what had just happened, “Bellamy, I think I’m going to go. Have a good break.” Echo broke the silence, then left. 

“Hey Bell, let’s maybe get you home?” Octavia said gently. 

“She loves me. I fucked up.” he said as he looked at his sister scared and his eye starting to shine with tears. 

“It was a big misunderstanding. Let’s try to sober up and get some sleep, then you two can work it out I'm sure.” she said, standing up to take his hand. 

_________________________________

Clarke had gotten home and went straight to her shower and just stood in the hot water, letting it fall on her, scrub off her makeup, her hair products and this whole night hopefully. She told herself she was going to stay in the shower until the tears stopped. 

She wasn’t sure how long she had been in the shower, when she heard someone knocking on her door. She reluctantly shut off the water and grabber her robe, then threw her wet hair up into a towel. 

She made it to her front door, then looked out to see who it was. When she saw it was Raven by herself, she opened the door, “Hey, Rae.” 

Raven didn’t say anything, just wrapped her friend up in a hug, ”I’m so sorry.” 

“How did you know?” Clarke asked. 

“Wells came inside and almost killed Bellamy. We all put two and two together. Clarke it was a mistake.” she told her. 

“Yeah it was. You were right. I should’ve said something sooner, that way I could’ve been rejected and on my way to moving on before I spent so many sleepless nights working on that damn song.” 

“No, Bellamy made a mistake. He thought that you were back with Cillian. He overheard you two at the studio and I guess thought you were back together or something. I don’t know, but I guess he invited his TA as revenge or something, but none of us saw them together until Wells had showed up and threw a thumb drive at Bellamy. Wait, you wrote him a song? Is that what was on the thumb drive?” Raven asked surprised. 

“Yes, and I really wish Wells wouldn’t have given it to him now. The fact that he thought I was with Cillian without asking me or staying another 2 minutes to hear the rest of the conversation before he started moving on with someone else isn’t what you do to someone you care about.” Clarke told her. 

“No, but it might be what you do when you’re scared. Scared you let yourself get too close, scared you were nothing but a placeholder, scared that you loved someone that didn’t love you back.” Raven told her honestly. 

“I can’t think about that right now Rae. I just want to go to bed and forget the last 6 months ever happened.” she told her friend. 

Raven got up to head out but stopped just as she opened the front door, “I’m not defending, and what he did was so wrong, but don’t let ya’lls continued lack of communication ruin the source of your happiness. Talk, like really talk before writing it off.” she told her. 

“Maybe after I've had some time to cool off and think, and be away from him.” Clarke told her. 

“You know once he sobers up and realize what happened, he’ll be over here.” Raven warned her.” 

“I’m going to Aspen for Christmas, so it will have to wait. I can’t be here, in this apartment that we decorated together for the holidays.” Clarke said sadly. 

“Clarke, don’t run. Talk.” and with that, Raven left. 

Clarke wanted nothing more than to sleep. She couldn’t remember the last time that she got a full night's sleep in her bed, and so she turned off her phone and fell right to sleep from pure exhaustion. 

__________________________________ 

Octavia had gotten Bellamy home that night, and he wanted to fall right to sleep, knowing the pain he would be in in the morning, but the thumb drive he took out of his pocket and set next to his phone was haunting him. What was on it, and why did Wells throw it at him? 

Not being able to take the mystery any longer, he grabbed his laptop out of his living room and settled on his bed, inserting the thumb drive and clicking on the only file. The media player popped up and he hesitated before hitting play. 

A beautiful melody on the piano came over the speakers, and then a voice that he already missed. Clarke’s voice. She sang a beautiful song that he had never heard before. At the end of the song her voice came through once more, “Happy Birthday Bellamy. I love you.” she said with a smile in her voice, he could tell. 

He hit play again, then again, and again. By the time he was dozing off to sleep he had memorized the song and was singing along to the words. The song was them, and he was an idiot to ever think she didn’t love him too. He fell asleep listening to the song, and told himself he would make it right as soon as he woke up the next morning. 

  
  


Bellamy woke up the next morning with a pounding headache and someone banging on his door didn’t help. He struggled to get out of bed and find the source of the noise. He opened his front door to find a very un-sympathetic looking Octavia on the other side. 

“Good morning idiot. Or should I say afternoon? How are you feeling?” she asked as she made her way into his kitchen. 

“Like I'd rather be dead.” he answered gruffly. 

“I’m sure. I have coffee and breakfast. Go shower, you smell like the bottom of a whiskey bottle.” she instructed. 

Bellamy didn’t need to be told twice. He showered then reemerged a few minutes later to sit at his table to eat, while Octavia stared him down. 

“What is it O, cause if you’re waiting for me to figure it out, it’ll take a while. My mind is still buffering.” he said finally. 

“What’s your plan?” she asked genuinely. 

“What plan? I just want to go back to bed.” he told her confused. 

“You’re plan to fix things with Clarke?” she asked. 

Bellamy was about to ask what she was talking about, then it all hit him. Kissing Echo, Wells almost killing him, telling him Clarke told her ex to fuck off, the thumb drive, the song, Clarke Loves him. Wait, Clarke Loves him. 

Bellamy must’ve looked like a deer in headlights, because Octavia slowly walked over and put her hand on his shoulder, “Bell, are you okay?” she asked concerned. 

“Shit, no. I gotta go. I gotta go find Clarke.” he said as he stood up and rushed to his room to find a hoodie. 

Octavia was standing by his front door when he came out, “Fix this Bell. I love you both, and you love each other. Don’t let your idiot decision making fuck this up.” 

He nodded at her, then he left in a hurry. Bellamy didn’t bother waiting for a cab, he decided to jog over to Clarke’s as fast as he could in his still slightly hungover state. 

As soon as he made it up her building and got to her door, he knocked. No answer. He knocked a little bit louder and longer. Still nothing. He pulled out his phone and called her, straight to voicemail. He tried 3 more times, still nothing. 

He thought for a minute about where she could possibly be. He knew his sister was with him this morning, so that left Raven. He didn’t bother calling, he just grabbed the first cab he saw once he got outside of Clarke’s building, and headed right over to Ravens. 

Once he got to Ravens door, he knocked a few times. Wells answered the door and looked less than impressed. 

“Is she here?” Bellamy asked pleadingly. 

“Nope.” Wells said and then slammed the door in his face. 

Bellamy took a deep breath, then knocked again. This time Raven answered the door. 

“Sorry about that. But he’s right, she’s not here.” she told Bellamy. 

“Do you have any idea where I can find her? She’s not with Octavia or at home, and the Studio is closed today.” Bellamy pleaded with her. 

“He doesn’t deserve to know.” he heard Wells say behind Raven. 

Raven rolled her eyes and then joined Bellamy in the hallway, “Sorry, he’s really protective of Clarke and not very forgiving.” 

“I don’t blame him. I royally fucked up and I know that. I want to tell her that and apologize. Whether she wants to hear it or not is up to her, but I wouldn’t blame her if she never wanted to see me again after she went and wrote that song for me and I just stomped on her heart.” Bellamy admitted. 

Then Wells opened the door again, “You really did.” he said sternly. “Do you love her? This isn’t about losing your booty call?” he asked seriously. 

“I’m ridiculously in love with her.” Bellamy told him. 

Wells must’ve seen what he was looking for, “She’s headed to her family's cabin in Aspen. She left this morning.” he told Bellamy. 

Raven turned to look at Bellamy and nodded that Wells was telling the truth. Bellamy thanked them then started to head back towards the elevator when Wells called out to him. 

“If you hurt her ever again, I will kick your ass.” he said in his most intimidating voice. 

“I’ll hold you to it.” Bellamy told him as he left their building and headed for the airport. 

__________________________________

Clarke was sitting at her gate at JFK, wondering if flying off to Aspen after catching her Friend/FWB kissing his TA at his Birthday Party while he was drunk is the best way to handle the situation. 

The song she had wrote for a client that was completely inspired by him was burning a hole in her phone, and she didn't know if she would ever get the chance to know if he even listened to it. She had every intention of confessing that she fell in love along the way of their arrangement, but she honestly thought he felt the same way. 

She thought about what Raven had told her the night before and couldn’t shake it. Did he really care about her? Was he just scared, or was that just an excuse? She didn’t know if she could ever face him again if he heard the song she wrote, and he didn’t feel the same way. 

They called for the final boarding for her flight. Clarke took a deep breath, stood up, grabbed her bags and headed out. 

  
  


Bellamy made it to JFK, and ran to the departures screen. He was too late, the flight to Aspen had already left. He made his way back to his apartment and tried calling Clarke again, straight to voicemail. He figured since she was in flight it probably would, so he left her a voicemail instead. 

“ _Clarke, it’s me. I am so, so sorry about last night. I was an idiot, I made an assumption, and I ruined everything. I will never be able to tell you enough how sorry I am, but if you give me a chance, I will spend forever telling and showing you how sorry I am, and, I didn’t want this to be the first time I said it, but I will also spend forever telling and showing you how much I love you too. I love you Clarke. Please, please pick up or call me back when you get this please. If I don’t hear back from you by tomorrow, I will be on the first flight to Aspen to come to you.”_

Bellamy hung up the phone, and then pulled out his laptop to start searching for flights to Aspen. 


	8. Baby think of me if it helps to get you home for Christmas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What happened when two people finally learn to communicate? Christmas Magic!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE MY LOVES!
> 
> We have 1 more chapter after this, then an epilogue coming after Christmas!
> 
> Here’s all the Bellarke fluff, you earned it!

Clarke made it to her childhood home Saturday evening. She decided not to get on the plane, and instead of going back to her empty apartment, she decided instead to go home, home.

As soon as she walked into the house, she heard Christmas music coming from the kitchen. She followed the music until she come to a stop. She saw her mother swaying to Bing Crosby’s ‘I’ll be home for Christmas’ and she just watched for a second. When her mother turned around, she looked surprised to see Clarke.

“Oh, sweetheart, you scared me.” Abby said as she put her hand over her chest.

“Sorry Mom, didn’t mean to intrude.” Clarke admitted.

“No intrusion at all. I was just getting dinner together. Do you want to join us?” Abby asked.

“I would. I was wondering if it was okay if I stay here for the next few days, It’s a bit lonely in my apartment for the holidays.” she admitted.

“Of course. You are always welcomed here Clarke. This will always be your home too.” Abby told her as they walked towards the entry way together.

“You brought luggage.” Abby stated.

“Yeah, I was thinking about going to Aspen for some alone time, but I just didn’t want to spend the holidays alone. So, I came here straight from the airport.” Clarke told her.

“Marcus said you and Wells were putting in a lot of hours lately, so I can imagine you are pretty burned out. In any case, I’m glad you decided to stay. Let’s get these up to your room.” Abby suggested.

Clarke made her way to a familiar room, her room. Once she set her bags down, she turned to see her mother looking at some of the artwork that was still up in her room, “I thought you would’ve taken those down by now.” Clarke joked.

“Never. You are incredibly talented Clarke. Even when you were younger. Do you want to talk about it?” Abby asked.

“About what?” Clarke asked confused.

“About why you were running? Not that I'm not happy that you decided to come here, but you never come here anymore unless it is a scheduled event.” Abby told her.

Clarke took a deep breath, “Do you still get those butter Christmas cookies?”

“Of course, I'm not a heathen Clarke. Cookies and Hot Cocoa?” Abby asked with a smile.

“Yes.” Clarke answered with her own smile.

They were settled in the living room with the fireplace going, the lights from the Christmas tree, mugs of cocoa and a plate of cookies before Clarke decided to tell Abby everything. From her relationship with Bellamy, denying her feelings, writing him a song, the big misunderstanding, seeing Bellamy with someone else, and everything else that lead to Clarke’s spot on the couch right now.

“Clarke, I'm so sorry. No one should have to feel like that. Do you believe that it was a misunderstanding? That he loves you too?” Abby asked.

“I want to believe it. And I know we have not been the best about communicating. And I really do love him Mom.” Clarke admitted.

“Can I hear the song?” Abby asked.

Clarke set her mug down, and headed over to the Baby Grand Piano that Abby had given Marcus as a wedding present and sat down. As she started to play, she tried not to look up to see her mother's reaction.

Once the song was finished, she looked up to see that Abby had tears in her eyes, “Clarke, that was beautiful. You have to tell him.”

“I want to, but I'm scared. I’m scared that I care about him too much, and I know he cares about me, but I’m worried it’s not the same way that I care about him.” she admitted.

“You’ll never know until you try.” Abby told her.

That evening, Clarke went to sleep in her childhood room, and thought about what her mom had told her. She needed to tell Bellamy that she loved him, whether he loved her back or not, she had to tell him. She made plan to head over to his place in the morning, then drifted off to sleep.

When she woke up the next morning, Clarke got dressed, grabbed a cup of coffee, and left her mother a note telling her she would be back later that evening.

Clarke made it all the way to Bellamy’s and was bouncing on the balls of her feet with nerves. She knocked a few times, but there was no answer. So, she grabbed her phone out of her bag to try to call him, then saw that her phone was still turned off from the day before.

As soon as she powered her phone on, she has a few text messages, but she saw a lone voicemail from Bellamy, so she ignored all of her other notifications and hit play on his voicemail.

As soon as she heard his voice, a bright smile broke out onto her face. Then the smile faltered as she heard him say he was getting on a plane to Aspen to go see her. She tried calling him once, twice, three times and they all went straight to voicemail.

“No, no, no. Pick up!” She said out loud.

When Bellamy’s voicemail came up the fourth time, Clarke panicked and called Octavia who answered on the first ring.

“Clarke, where in the world have you been?!” she shouted.

“My phone has been off! Where is Bellamy?” she asked, hoping he didn’t get on a plane to Colorado.

“He’s on his way to see you, in Aspen!” Octavia told her.

“I’m not in Aspen. I didn’t get on the plane. Damn it!” she said, angry at herself for not turning on her phone sooner.

“Shit. Okay, let’s just call him and tell him to come home. He will get them as soon as he lands.” Octavia said.

Clarke hung up with her, and Called Bellamy again, and it went to voicemail again.

“ _Bell, it’s me Clarke. Please call me as soon as you get this. Please, please come home. I didn’t get on the plane, my phone was still off and I just got your voicemail, so I’m really sorry about all of this, please just come home when you can.”_

Clarke felt awful. He thought she was ignoring him, and he got on a plane to Colorado to be with her. She felt like she was the unluckiest person. It was the day before Christmas eve, and she was hoping that there was some Christmas magic that could bring him back to her.

She sifted through her text messages as she went back to her apartment to grab a few things, it looked like the group was meeting up at the Bar for some Christmas Karaoke. She figured since she missed out on Bellamy’s birthday, and it had been a long time since she was able to hang out with her friends, she decided to text Raven and tell her that she would be there.

Raven responded with a text saying that Clarke has some explaining to do, and Clarke replied telling Raven she promised she would later.

Clarke then texted Wells and told him to bring their sheet music to the bar, then she got to her apartment and grabbed a few clothes she would need for that night, as well as her dress for the Christmas Eve Ball the next day. Just as she was about to walk out of her apartment, her eye caught the fireplace where her stocking with a C was hanging, and the empty space that had a stocking with a B for Bellamy. She must’ve taken it down when she came home from the bar upset.

She set her stuff by the front door, then she searched for the missing stocking. She finally found it thrown in her guest room. She picked it up and put it back up next to hers and stared at the two next to each other. It fit, it felt right, complete. With that final thought, Clarke grabbed her stuff and headed back uptown to her Mother’s house.

___________________________

Bellamy finally landed in Aspen after a very long flight, then he turned his phone on where it went crazy and tried to vibrate out of his hand. He saw a bunch of text notifications, and 2 voicemails. One from Octavia and the other from Clarke. He was worried that Clarke found out that he was coming to Aspen and her voicemail was to tell him not to bother. He instead decided to call his sister and let her know that he landed, hoping she had the cabin address for him to get a car to take him there.

Octavia answered on the first ring, “Come home!” she said quickly.

“O, I came all this way to talk to Clarke, and I'm not leaving until I do that, even if she doesn’t want me here.” he told her with finality.

“That’s a great speech and all, but she really doesn’t want you there, she want’s you home.” Octavia said with a little bit of amusement.

“Wait, What?” Bellamy asked confused.

“She didn’t get on the plane, Bell. She’s still here in the city. She had her phone off for when she was going to get on the plane, and she didn’t turn it back on until it was too late and she heard your message saying you were going to Colorado to get her. Did you not get her voicemail?” Octavia asked.

“No, I didn’t listen to it. I thought it was her telling me not to come out here. Shit, I'm getting on the next flight out of here.” he told his sister.

“You two could save a lot of time, stress and cross-country flights if you just talked like normal people, or used your phones properly.” Octavia mumbled.

“Yeah, I got that. Look, I can get a flight out of here in the next hour. I’ll be back around 9pm tonight. I’m going to ask one last thing O, then I swear I will take care of my own shit, if you could just do this one thing for me.” he asked.

“What’s that?”

“Don’t tell her I'm coming home. I want to surprise her with something. I’ll meet you all at Mirage tonight when I get in.” he told her.

Octavia agreed, and then he hung up and dialed Wells.

“What did you do now?” he asked in lieu of a greeting.

“Wells, I need your help. I want to surprise Clarke with her song. I’m in Aspen getting on a flight to New York here soon. I’ll meet you guys at the bar, but no one can tell Clarke that I’m coming.” he told him.

“You two idiots are so alike. Clarke asked me to bring the sheet music to Karaoke night already.” Wells laughed.

“That’s actually perfect! If you can send me a copy of that, I can surprise her!” he said, the excitement getting to him.

“I’ll send it over now. Don’t fuck this up Blake.” Wells said as he hung up.

It was all coming together. He would do anything he could to get to her and tell her how sorry he was and how stupid he was and how much he loved her until his last day. He only hoped that it wasn’t too late and that the damaged wasn’t too much to repair.

_____________________________________

Clarke was dressed and heading over to Mirage to meet everyone for Karaoke night. She was radiating nerves the whole ride over. She still hadn’t heard from Bellamy, and she was sure that he would’ve called her once he landed. She started to let her mind run wild with thoughts. Maybe he was angry that she never answered, that he flew across the country just to find out that she wasn’t there and would have to try to fly back, all right before Christmas too.

She was hoping that he could forgive her for their lack of communication, just as she had already forgiven him. Octavia suggested that she video Clarke performing her own song for the first time, and then Clarke could send it to Bellamy.

She felt a little less nervous, knowing she wasn’t going to be singing it to him in person for the first time, and that made her feel a little bit better.

When she got to the bar, it was already 9pm and the party was already well on its way. She found her friends, and got to catch the end of Murphy’s rendition of Grandma got run over by a Reindeer. The crowd whooped and cheered and it came to an end.

Wells looked at Clarke with a look of curiosity, “I’m fine.” she told him.

“I know, just it’s the first time you’ve ever sang outside of the studio.” he reminded her.

“Well aware. She grabbed a shot that was on the table. But, thanks for the reminder.” she hit his shoulder with hers.

Wells and Octavia both kept looking over to the door, and Clarke looked at Octavia, “What, you expecting Santa or something to appear?” she laughed.

“So, what if I am?” her friend shot back with a laugh.

“If he could bring your brother, I wouldn’t ask for anything else.” Clarke admitted.

“I know honey.” Octavia said as Clarke laid her head on Octavia's shoulder, and she patted her head.

“Ready when you are kid.” Wells called over to her.

“Now or never.” Clarke responded.

Wells walked up to the keyboard they had setup on the stage, and took his seat. Octavia took one last look at the door and frowned. So, she got her phone out to record so Clarke could send it to Bellamy later like she had told her. She was hoping her brother would’ve made it in time, but it looked like he was going to miss this.

Wells seemed to look equally disappointed as Clarke stood behind the microphone, and all of her friends cheered, signaling him to start.

The piano started with the beautiful melody, and the song began.

_‘_ _Didn't know what to get you_  
 _Ordinary just wouldn't do_  
 _But I just found the perfect gift for you_  
  
 _Now I got it all ready_  
 _But it's not wrapped in red or green_  
 _Come and sit down beside me here_  
 _Underneath the Christmas tree_  
  
 _We've got mistletoe and firelight_  
 _On this cold December night_  
 _The snow outside will set the mood_  
 _As I sing my song for you.’_

Wells knew that this was where he usually comes in to join Clarke in the song, and he cleared his voice to get ready, seeing as Bellamy was nowhere to be found.

_‘I hear church bells a-ringin'_   
_Carolers are singing harmony with me now’_

Then, a voice comes in over the speakers and Wells breathes a sigh of relief.

_‘You are looking so lovely, yeah_   
_Even if the lights go out’_

Clarke looks back at Wells and sees that it’s not him singing, even though she already knew that, knowing that wasn’t his voice.  
  
The bridge comes, and as if by magic, Bellamy appears and is singing HER song to him, back to her.

_‘You're so beautiful_   
_I only hope you see what I see’_

Clarke can no longer keep the tears from coming as Bellamy approaches her, standing on the stage, holding onto her hand.

_‘Every word is meant to show you how much you mean to me’_

Clarke slowly comes back to reality and finishes the song with him.

_‘We've got mistletoe and firelight_   
_On this cold December night_   
  
_The snow outside will set the mood_   
_As I sing my song, since my song, sing my song for you.’_

The song finishes and Bellamy slowly pulled her off the stage while the bar erupted in applause, mostly coming from their section of friends.

Bellamy takes Clarke outside of the bar, and turns around, “Clarke, I am so, so sorry. I didn’t know the whole story, drank way too much and made a really stupid and rash decision. Please, know how sorry I am. If you can’t forgive me now, I’ll wait until you can.”

“Bellamy, I already forgave you. I’m sorry it happened, I’m sorry I didn’t answer my phone and save you not one, but two cross country flights, and that I didn’t tell you sooner that I loved you.” Clarke told him as she grabbed both of his hands in hers.

Bellamy pulled her into a hug then, “I don’t think I will ever stop being sorry for what happened.”

“You’re forgiven. Honestly. But so that nothing ever gets misunderstood again, I need to tell you. I love you Bellamy Blake. I am stupidly, unapologetically in love with you. I want to be your best friend, but I want to be more too. I’ve loved what we’ve had the last few months, but I want more. I want all of you, and I’m all in on this.” she confessed.

“Shit, I'm usually the one giving speeches.” they both laughed. “I am in love with you Clarke. I have been for a while, and I was scared that it wasn’t the same for you, so I decided to wait. Then, I thought I missed my chance, and I don’t want to miss anything else. I’m all in too.” he said as he leaned his for head down to hers.

“Well, Merry Christmas to us.” she told him as she leaned up to kiss him.

After a minute, Clarke felt something wet on her face. They broke apart just barely and Clarke looked up to see snow starting to fall, “Christmas Magic.” she told Bellamy with a big smile

He laughed, then repeated, “Christmas Magic.”

“You’ve been flying all day, you want to go home and get some sleep?” Clarke suggested.

“I want to go home with you.” he told her so honestly.

“Like I would let you go anywhere else. Let’s go inside and say goodbye to everyone first.” Clarke said as she grabbed his hand and led him back into the bar.

As soon as they entered, they heard cheers and applause from their friends. They just shook their heads and laughed.

“I’m going to get this frequent flyer home. We will see you guys at the Gala tomorrow, and thank you.” she addresses their group of friends, knowing they probably had a hand in this surprise.

Murphy tossed Bellamy his bag, and he nodded his thanks.

Clarke and Bellamy headed back to her apartment for the night. Once they got into her apartment, Bellamy set his bag on her chair, and then took off his coat and shoes. When he looked up, Clarke had her hand outstretched to him, and he took it without hesitation.

They laid in her bed facing each other, his Christmas lights display lighting up their faces from the ceiling, “I can’t believe you flew all the way to Colorado for me.” Clarke admitted in the quiet.

Bellamy gently pushed some of her hair behind her ear, “I would fly around the world if I had to.”

“Is this your way of telling me that you’re Santa clause?” She joked.

He tickled her until she begged him to stop, “No, I’m not cool enough to be Santa.”

Clarke looked at the pure joy she saw on Bellamy’s face and just couldn’t help repeating once again, “I love you.”

He bent down and kissed her softly, “I love you too.”

Clarke snuggled into his chest as he wrapped his arms around her. They both fell asleep content and happy, and Clarke could not wait for what the rest of Christmas had in store.


	9. I'll be home with My Love, this Christmas.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Christmas Eve Gala finally arrives, and Clarke has one more surprise for Bellamy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you have stuck around this long, I applaud you! I know this is late (like 3 weeks late) but I was one of the unlucky ones to get sick over Christmas, so I hope you still enjoy the almost 4k conclusion of this Christmasy fic. 
> 
> We only have the epilouge left after this, so be on the look out for that this week!
> 
> Happy Be-lated Christmas!

Bellamy woke up the next morning after the best sleep he felt like he had ever had. He rolled over to find Clarke sleeping next to him, which confirmed to him that it wasn’t all a dream. She was there, he was there, they were together and that made him smile. 

Clarke started to stir as he propped his head up on his hand, looking down at the amazing woman next to him. 

“You’re watching me sleep.” Clarke stated. 

“Just for a quick second. I can’t help it. Merry Christmas Eve.” He said as he leaned down to kiss her forehead. 

“Christmas Eve.” she sighed contently, then her eyes popped open in a slight panic. “The Gala is tonight! All of my things, including my dress is at my Mothers!” she told him as she started getting out of the bed and grabbing her robe. 

“Hey, we have plenty of time before tonight. Come back here, please?” Bellamy asked with puppy dog eyes, as he reached out his hand to her. 

Clarke couldn’t resist climbing back into bed with him, back into his embrace, “We can have a nice quiet morning, then you can head over to your moms and I will go back to my place to get ready. Then, I will come pick you up and we can head to the Gala together.” he suggested. 

“You drive a hard bargain there Blake, but you have yourself a deal.” Clarke said as she kissed his lips, quick and with a small laughed. 

Bellamy pulled her down on top of him and wrapped his arms around her, holding her against his chest. 

Clarke fell back asleep quickly in his embrace. The feeling of complete happiness and contentment relaxing her. 

After another hour, her and Bellamy dragged themselves out of bed to get ready for the day. Clarke started some coffee while Bellamy made pancakes. 

Once they were both finished, they reluctantly parted ways until later in the evening, but not without hesitance from Bellamy, “I just got you back, I don’t want to leave you.” 

Clarke reached up on her tiptoes and kissed him slowly, “I don’t want to leave you either. I promise I’ll be waiting for you at 7pm sharp. Then I’m yours for the night.” She told him with a smile. 

“Just the night?” He asked jokingly. 

“Oh yes. All. Night. Long” she said with a devious smile. 

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Princess. I’ll be ready to collect on that.” He said with a wink. 

Clarke laughed, then hopped into a cab to head back uptown to her mother's place, but first she had one small stop to make. 

Bellamy made it to his apartment and had just put his keys down when someone started knocking on his door. Before he could register who was at his door, it unlocked and in came his sister. 

“Finally! I’ve been calling you all morning!” Octavia said as she set bags down in his living room. 

“What’s all this? And I was at Clarke's, and my phone was dead.” he told her. 

“This is Christmas stuff. I didn’t want to keep this stuff at our place, since Gabriel likes to snoop.” I was hoping I could do some wrapping here.” she told him, “So, you guys work everything out?” 

“I think so. I told her that I loved her, she told me she loved me. We are together, and I have to get ready for the Gala tonight.” 

“Gala, huh? Fancy.” Octavia said with a smirk, “So, what are you getting Clarke for Christmas? Cause, I got her name for secret Santa and I don’t want you to get the same thing I did.” Octavia told him. 

“Crap, I was so busy flying back and forth, and trying to get her back that I haven’t done any shopping. And, everything is closing soon.” he huffed. 

“I can go out and grab something while you get ready.” Octavia offered. 

“I think this is something I need to do myself, but thanks O.” he told her with a smile. 

He told Octavia to use whatever she needed, and he would be back within an hour. He was on a mission, and he didn’t have much time. 

______________________________

Abby had a hair dresser and makeup artist at the house by the time Clarke arrived. She ran into them as she was going down the hall to her old room. 

“Honey, Mandy and Lorelei will be able to help you when they are done with me.” Abby said as Clarke passed by. 

“Thanks Mom, but I can get ready myself.” Clarke told her. 

“Nonsense, I booked them for the both of us. It’s nice to get dolled up by someone else for such a special evening.” Abby told her. 

“Special, huh? What are you not telling me about tonight, Mom?” Clarke questioned. 

“Oh, nothing. Always so suspicious, this one.” Abby commented to the ladies, “I just, can tell by the look on your face that things must’ve worked out with you and Bellamy.” Abby smiled at her daughter. 

“That it did. He’s actually going to pick me up here later, so I won’t be riding with you and Marcus.” 

“Well, I will be expecting to meet him at the event then. Honey, I’m so happy that you’re happy.” Abby told her, as she held both of her hands. 

“Even if I'm not a doctor?” Clarke asked, slightly nervous. 

“Yes. I know I was hard on you about it, but you have clearly found your calling, and I could not be happier to see how well you’ve done for yourself.” Abby admitted with a small tear in her eye. 

“Oh Mom, don’t cry, you’ll ruin your makeup.” Clarke laughed at the long time warning her mother would give her growing up. 

“Oh, stop it! Go get ready you are next young lady.” Abby laughed as Clarke made her way to her bedroom. 

She pulled out the garment bag in her closet, and unzipped it. She picked this dress with Bellamy in mind. She looked it over once more, and decided that she did indeed make the right choice. 

________________________________

Bellamy arrived to Clarke’s childhood home in a blacked out town car that Marcus and Abby had sent over to his apartment. 

He knocked on the large white door, and waited for Clarke. She opened the door and he felt his jaw drop without permission. She was wearing a floor length, all lace, dark red dress that was off the shoulders. Her hair was beautifully swept back into a low up-do, with a few loose curls falling and framing her face. She had a beautiful red lip, and light sparkles around her eyes. She was a Christmas vision in Red. 

“Wow.” was all he managed. 

Clarke grabbed her silver clutch and long Black coat and joined him on the front porch, locking the front door behind her.” I could say the same thing to you. You were born to wear that tux Bellamy Blake.” Clarke told him with a sweet smile. 

Bellamy leaned down and kissed her cheek before whispering into her ear, “You are absolutely breath taking.” 

Clarke shivered at his low voice and his close proximity, “Let’s get this party started. The sooner we get there, the sooner we can leave.” she told him with a knowing smile. 

Bellamy let out a low growl as he opened her car door for her, “Teasing me already, is such a mean thing to do to start the evening, Princess.” 

“Gotta keep you on your toes there.” she laughed as he shut her door and then joined her on the other side. 

On the drive to the venue, Bellamy held her hand and she circled her thumb on the back of his hand while resting her head on his shoulder. Bellamy would occasionally place sweet kisses to the top of her hair, and Clarke could feel how sore her cheeks already were from smiling. 

When they arrived, Bellamy jumped out first, then opened Clarke’s door and escorted her up the steps to the event. Once they were inside, the both let out a gasp in surprise. 

The Venue was completely decked out with white Christmas lights reflecting off the various chandeliers, there were red poinsettias lining the grand staircase leading down to the main floor from the entrance, and a 30-foot Christmas tree, complete with all the trimming’s next to a large stage that had a full jazz swing band playing Christmas tunes. 

“This is amazing.” Clarke said in awe. 

Bellamy turned to look at her, as she was still entranced by the scene before her, “Yeah, it really is.” he said with a smile. Just then he extended his elbow to her, “Shall we?” 

Clarke looked at him and laughed, then gladly accepted his arm, “Let’s have some fun.” 

They ascended the stairs together, and just as they reached the bottom, they were greeted by a man that he recognized as Clarke’s Boss and Step-Father and the woman on his arm that he knew was her Mother. 

“Clarke, Bellamy, so glad you could come this evening.” Marcus said as he stuck his hand out to Bellamy in greeting. 

“Thank you for having us. This looks amazing, like straight out of a movie.” Bellamy said. 

“It was all this one here, and her staff of course.” Marcus said, gesturing to Abby. 

“Abigail Griffin, but you can call me Abby. So nice to finally meet you Bellamy.” Abby said. 

“It’s nice to finally meet you as well. You really did an amazing job on this.” he complimented, as he gestured to the room. 

“Thank you. It was definitely a team effort. Your table is over near the stage. You’ll find Wells and Raven, along with Jackson and Nathan. We will see you a little later in the evening.” Abby told them, then they were off to mingle with other guests. 

“So, a lot calmer than I was expecting when meeting your Mom.” Bellamy leaned down to whisper to Clarke, as they made their way towards their table of friends. 

“It was a good time to meet her. She is in the middle of entertaining 400 of Manhattans elite. She’s a bit too busy to grill you, that can be saved for the next meeting.” Clarke teased him. 

“Looking forward to it. “ he said under his breath, as they found their friends and table. 

Bellamy pulled out Clarke’s chair for her, and then took his seat next to her. 

“Look who decided to show up. We figured after last night you two would be holed up in bed somewhere still.” Raven said with a smirk. 

“If it were up to me, we would be.” Clarke shot back with a laugh. 

Wells groaned, “Not something you want to hear from someone you see as a sister.” 

“Being best friends with Raven means that I hear all about your sex life.” Clarke informed him. 

Wells paled, “WHAT?!” He looked at Raven expectantly. 

“Don’t worry, all good things, I swear.” she told him as she took another sip of her champagne. 

Wells just rolled his eyes as the rest of the table laughed at his expense. A waiter had come around and dropped off fresh glasses of champagne for Bellamy and Clarke, and then Bellamy was caught up into a conversation with Nathan. 

Wells tapped Clarke on the shoulder, and she leaned closer to him, “So, I may have overheard a conversation Marcus was having with your mother about a performance tonight?” 

Clarke pulled back and looked at him like he grew a second head, “A what? Who?” 

“I’m guessing you, genius.” Wells told her. 

“Nobody happened to tell ME that.” Clarke corrected. 

“Just a heads up.” Wells told her, as he took another sip of his drink. 

Clarke scanned the room for her Mother, then she told Bellamy she would be right back and made a b-line for the woman in question. 

Once she got to her mother, Abby knew something was off, “Clarke, what’s wrong?” 

“You tell me. Did you and Marcus plan on ambushing me into performing in front of all of these people?” Clarke asked. 

Abby looked a little guilty, “Well, not exactly. Marcus had one of the songs you submitted playing in his office, and I asked if it was something we could give the band to use this evening. It’s not the one you wrote for Bellamy, I promise. We were just going to have one of the vocalists sing it, unless...” Abby trailed off. 

“Unless, I agree to perform it instead?” Clarke finished. 

“Yes, but I don’t want you to feel pressured.” Abby told her. 

“It’s my song. I don’t think I would want someone else to sing it. I’ll let you know later in the evening.” Clarke told her, then headed back to her table. 

“Hey, everything okay?” Bellamy asked her when she returned. 

“Everything is good.” she told him, as she pecked his lips. 

The evening continued with a delicious Christmas Dinner, more drinks, and a few speeches for the various charities and members of the hospital board. By the time all of that was done, the band vamped up and most people headed out to the dance floor. It was an amazing time, and Clarke couldn’t have been happier to have none other than Bellamy Blake with her all evening. It felt like a fairy tale. 

She was enough glasses of champagne in to be tipsy, but not drunk, and she was dancing to ‘The way you look tonight’ with Bellamy, when she couldn’t hold it in anymore, “I love you, like a lot.” she said with the biggest smile on her face. 

“And I love you.” he told her, as he leaned down and bopped her nose with his. 

“I want to do something crazy. Something I never thought I’d do.” she declared. 

“We’ve done some pretty crazy stuff, but I don’t think doing it at your mothers gala is the way to make a good first impression.” he teased her. 

“Oh, stop it. First off, you would love that, and second, that’s not what I meant.” she told him as the song came to an end, and she left the dance floor. 

Nathan and Jackson came up next to him, “Uh, where is she going?” Nate asked. 

“I have no idea.” Bellamy said, looking in the direction Clarke wandered off to. 

All of the sudden, Marcus appeared on the stage, “Ladies and Gentleman, thank you again for your presence and support this evening. We have a special treat for you all tonight. A preview of an upcoming sound track produced by Kane Studios, and coming to a theater next holiday season. Here are our writers, Wells Jaha, and performing live for the first time, Clarke Griffin.” 

Bellamy, Miller, Jackson and Raven who had joined them all snapped their heads towards the stage, as the crowd started to applaud. Wells escorted Clarke to center stage, then took his seat at the beautiful white Grande piano on the left. 

Clarke took a deep breath, as wells began to touch the keys and the music started to play. 

_“Santa called to make sure I'm prepared_   
_He said, "Winter love is spreading everywhere."_   
_Summer came and took off with the spring_   
_So now we start the Christmas Caroling_   
  
_I'll find my way back home_   
_And light up every tree_   
_We will hang our stockings for you_   
_And one for me_   
  
_'Cause_ _Santa called to make sure I'm prepared_   
_He said, "Pack your bags and tell them you'll be there."_

Clarke just focused on Bellamy. The only way she could feel like she could get through a performance in front of so many people, that and the previous champagne. He was starting back at her with awe. She knew how much she loved him, but it was in that exact moment that she realized, how much he loved her too. 

  
  


_“_ _I'll be home with my love this Christmas_   
_I promise, I promise_   
_I'll be home with my love this Christmas_   
_I promise, I promise_   
_I'll be home, home, I'll be home_   
_I'll be home, I'll be home.”_

Bellamy couldn’t believe his luck. He moved across the country to be with his sister, got a dream job, loved the city he was living in, and most importantly, what started as a casual fling, turned into him finding his best friend, soulmate and love of his life. This was indeed the best Christmas he ever had. 

_“_ _Santa called to make sure I'm prepared_   
_He said, "Wrap the gifts with all your love and care."_   
_The wind blows the snow up in the sky_   
_But I won't let the wind delay my flight_   
  
_I'll be home with my love this Christmas_   
_I promise, I promise_   
_I'll be home with my love this Christmas_   
_I promise, I promise_   
_I'll be home, I'll be home, I'll be home_   
_I promise, I promise_   
_I'll be home, I'll be home_   
  
_Santa called to make sure I'm prepared_   
_He said, "Pack your bags and tell him you'll be there."_

As the song ended, Clarke looked back at Bellamy one last time and made him the promise, that she would always be home with him for Christmas. 

He met her at the side of the stage as she exited to the crowd’s applause, “Remember what I said about keeping promises, right?” he asked her with a shy smile. 

“Yes, and I meant it.” She told him confidently. 

“Good. Cause I don’t think I could ever spend a Christmas without you after this one.” he told her, as he leaned down to capture her lips in a sweet kiss. 

“Well, looks like our obligations are done for the evening, and it’s getting close to midnight.” Clarke started. 

“Say no more. Let’s get the princess home before her date turns back into a pumpkin.” he joked as they headed towards their table to say their goodbyes. 

“I’m pretty sure that’s not how the story goes.” she laughed. 

“Potato, Patato.” 

“Oh, Honey! You were amazing! Thank you for doing that.” Abby said, as she embraced Clarke. 

“No problem. We are going to head out. Have a wonderful rest of your evening, and Merry Christmas Mom.” Clarke told her. 

Abby then hugged Bellamy while Clarke hugged Marcus. “Get home safely you two.” 

Bellamy and Clarke waved at their friends, promising to see them the following day at Octavia and Gabriel’s Christmas Party, then headed towards the door for their coats. Their car was waiting for them when they walked outside, and they hopped in and headed back to Clarke’s place. 

When they made it up the stairs and into the apartment, Clarke was taking off her heels as soon as they walked in the door, and Bellamy was hanging up their coats. She saw the clock in the kitchen read 11:50pm. 

“Okay, so it’s almost midnight. And, if you’re okay with it, I have this tradition I used to do with my parents when I was a kid, and then with Octavia when we lived together.” Clarke asked him. 

“Okay, what is it?” Bellamy asked amused. 

“We get into cozy Christmas PJ’s, have hot chocolate, turn on a Christmas movie, and open one gift.” Clarke explained shyly. 

“That sounds like the perfect way to start Christmas day to me.” Bellamy told her. 

“Okay, I’ll get the hot cocoa, you go change and we meet back here at 12am sharp.” Clarke nodded at him before going off into the kitchen. 

Bellamy laughed at her seriousness, then headed towards her room to his bag. He pulled out his red buffalo plaid pajama pants and black long-sleeved Henley. He pulled out the small box that Octavia had wrapped for him in her gift wrapping frenzy and he put it in his pocket before coming out to the living room to see 2 mugs of cocoa with marshmallows and a candy cane sitting on the small coffee table, and the Grinch que’d up on the TV. 

Clarke kissed him on the cheek, then disappeared into her room to change. When she came back out, she was in ice blue pajama pants that matched her eyes with penguins on them, and an oversize NYU sweatshirt that he recognized as his, and some matching fuzzy socks, hair thrown up into a messy bun. 

She joined him on the couch and looked at him with utter excitement. 

“Okay, what first?” Bellamy asked. 

Just then, Clarke’s alarm on her phone went off, “First, Merry Christmas.” she told him as she leaned over to kiss him. “Now, this.” she held out a small box to him. 

Bellamy accepted the gift, and pulled hers out of his pocket to hand her, “Ladies first.” 

Clarke smiled at him, then undid the wrapping paper to find a white gold chain with a small white gold crown. “Bellamy, this is gorgeous.” she said in awe. “Can you help me put it on?” she smiled at him as he gestured for her to turn around. 

Bellamy clasped the necklace around her, then kissed the side of her neck. “It’s beautiful. It’s going to make my gift to you look so silly now.” she laughed. 

“Whatever it is, I’m sure I'll love it.” he told her, as she turned back around to watch him open his gift. 

He tore the paper off, and opened the lid on the small box to reveal a key with the Roman Colosseum on it. “It’s a key to here. To my apartment. It’s a gesture of good faith, trust and welcome. I want you to know that you are always wanted and welcomed here.” 

“Clarke, this is the best thing you could’ve given me. Are you sure?” Bellamy asked, with a smile on his face. 

“I’m beyond sure Bell. I want you here.” she assured him, as she leaned in for another kiss. 

The snuggled up with a blanket on the couch, started the movie and enjoyed their cocoa. 

“Merry Christmas, Bell.” Clarke told him. 

“Merry Christmas, Princess.” Bellamy said back to her, as he kissed the top of her head. 

They both fell asleep watching the movie, and it was the start of many amazing Christmases spent together. 


	10. Ring a Ling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We've made it to the end! Thank you for sticking with this little Christmas story well past Christmas. Cheers to our favorite couple!

_6 months later:_

Clarke and Bellamy were standing in her apartment, surrounded by moving boxes. After the last of their friends had left, they both slumped onto the couch together. 

“I really don’t have the energy to unpack any of this stuff now.” Bellamy said exhausted. 

“Oh come on, I’ll help you. We just have to get your clothes unpacked into our bedroom, then put all your books and shelves in the office/art studio to deal with another day.” Clarke reminded him. 

They had turned the spare room into an art studio for Clarke at the beginning of the new year, and when Bellamy’s lease came up at the beginning of June, Clarke had blurted out that he should just move in with her. There was plenty of space, and they spent most of their time at her place because of the location. Now it was also going to double as an office space for Bellamy to work at home and grade, instead of staying at the university late after his office hours. 

“Even unpacking clothes seems like too much of a job right now.” he complained, leaning his head on her shoulder. 

“Hey, you’re the one that wanted to make fancy anniversary dinner plans the same day we had to move.” she poked him and laughed. 

“It’s been a year since we met! And that was before we found out the elevator was undergoing maintenance today.” he reminded her. 

“And slept together.” Clarke laughed. “Well, how about you go shower up, and I will start putting away your clothes so they don’t end up too wrinkled. I’ll get you some clothes for dinner, and then we can deal with the rest tomorrow. Sound good?” she offered. 

“You’re the literal best.” he told as her as he kissed the side of her head. 

They both got up and began their tasks. Bellamy headed for the shower, and Clarke headed to the bedroom to begin unpacking his clothes. 

Clarke was pulling the bags off of his hang up clothes and started to hang them in his closet, when something fell out of one of his coat pockets. She gasped and sat down on the floor and just stared at the velvet box. She couldn’t bring herself to open it, she was just frozen in time. 

  
20 minutes later, Bellamy emerged from the steamy bathroom and found Clarke sitting on the floor in the middle of their bedroom, all the boxes still taped up and looking like she saw a ghost. 

“I told you that you didn’t have to unpack these today. I know it seems like a lot.” then he stopped and looked at what she was looking at. 

“This fell out of one of your jackets when I was putting it away. I didn’t open it, I swear.” she assured him quickly. 

Bellamy huffed a laugh, then leaned down to scoop the box off of the ground. Then he looked up at her, knelt down on both of his knees to sit in front of her and opened the box to reveal a white gold band with a princess cut diamond in the middle, surrounded by smaller diamonds around the band. 

“I was going to do this at dinner, but I think this is so much better. A year ago, I met this amazing woman. She’s beautiful, smart, stubborn, brave, talented, and for some reason, in love with me. I can’t think of anyone in this world that I would want to spend the rest of this crazy life with. Clarke, Princess, will you marry me?” he asked. 

“Shit.” she whispered in awe. “Hell yeah, I’ll marry you!” she laughed as she launched herself at him and knocked him on the ground underneath her. 

Bellamy let out a loud laugh and a sigh of relief. He pulled the ring out of the box, and slide it on her left hand. Clarke leaned in to kiss him, and he put his hand behind her neck to pull her closer. 

She laughed and leaned her forehead on his, “We’re engaged.” she whispered in awe. 

“We are. You said yes. No take backs!” he joked. 

“Never. Plus, who could say no to this face.” she said as she kissed his cheek, then sat up to help him up to his feet. 

Bellamy started laughing, “I just realized I'm still in just a towel, and proposed basically naked.” 

Clarke eyed him up and down, “Why do you think I said yes so fast?” she wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. 

“Oh, I see how it is. You just want me for my body.” he joked. 

Before he realized it, Clarke grabbed the towel from his waist and pulled it off in one quick movement. Then her hands were in his hair and her lips attached to his. 

He growled low in his throat and lifted her up and carried her the few feet to their bed, that thankfully didn’t have any boxes on it. 

He couldn’t keep his hands off of her as her lips were trailing all over his face, jaw and neck. Clarke motioned him to flip over so she could be on top. Then she pulled away from him and pulled her shirt off. 

“God, I love you.” he told her breathless, as he surged forward and captured her lips again. 

Clarke worked on getting her shorts and underwear off as Bellamy continued to kiss her passionately. As soon as she was stripped as bare as he was, she hummed in pleasure. 

“Can’t wait to do this for the rest of our lives.” she said in bliss as she lined him up. 

“You’re going to kill me.” Bellamy said low. 

“But, what a way to go.” Clarke said with the biggest smile he had ever seen. “Fuck dinner, let’s just stay in.” she told him, all thoughts of a fancy dinner thrown out the window. 

“I’d rather fuck you if that’s okay.” he said with a smirk. 

Before she could retort, Bellamy drove into her quickly with the snap of his hips. Clarke let out a loud moan, “Your neighbors are going to hate us.” he laughed as he pulled out slowly, then pushed back into her. 

“Your neighbors too.” she barely got out, before her orgasm came over her and she yelled out in pleasure. 

Bellamy drove into her with a few more thrusts then let go himself. Clarke rolled off of him, and they laid there catching their breath. 

“Engaged sex is AMAZING.” Clarke said in absolute bliss. 

“Maybe I should’ve proposed sooner then.” Bellamy joked, as Clarke lightly swatted him in the chest. 

“Stop it, this was perfect. What are we going to tell people?” Clarke wondered out loud. 

“That we’re engaged?” Bellamy questioned slightly. 

“No, they are going to want to know how it was done.” Clarke laughed. 

“Simple. You found the ring while unpacking, I came out of the shower and proposed, then you undressed me and had your way with me.” he laughed while tickling her sides. 

“Octavia is going to love that version.” she laughed as she snuggled into his side. She then lifted up her left hand to finally admire the ring Bellamy had picked out. 

“A Princess cut Diamond for the Princess.” he said as he kissed her temple. 

“It’s perfect. I love you.” she told him. 

“And I love you.” he said back. “Seeing you with that ring on, is going to make it that much harder to keep my hands off of you.” he told her, hand on her waist drifting lower down her hip. 

“Round two? She laughed. 

“Ding, Ding, Ding.” he said as he slowly moved above her and pushed her on her back to kiss her. 


End file.
